On February 6, Julia Stoyanovich, delivered a keynote at United Nations Headquarters as part of the Friday Seminar on Emerging Issues titled AI-Readiness for Official Data and Statistics. The event brought together the community of official statistics, including national chief statisticians from UN Member States, directors and international cooperation staff, as well as chief statisticians of international agencies.

Her address, “Understanding the Technology: A Review of the Rapidly Evolving Uses of AI, from Data Production to Data Insights,” examined how modern AI systems interact with numerical data and metadata. As AI increasingly becomes an interface for accessing and analyzing information, the talk explored the implications for how official statistics are produced, interpreted, and disseminated.

Prof. Stoyanovich highlighted the importance of ensuring that official data remain accurate, properly attributed, and clearly contextualized as AI systems become more integrated into information ecosystems. Maintaining these qualities, she emphasized, is essential to preserving the integrity and public value of official statistics.

🎥 Watch the recording on the UN WebTV channel: https://webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1z/k1z77fpw1i