It's International Youth Day, and organizations around the world are celebrating young people's contributions to conflict prevention and transformation, as well as inclusion, social justice and sustainable peace. Telenor Group recently reached out to Asian youth on these topics, and the majority says that they view artificial intelligence and access to education as crucial for building peace and improving their communities, said a press release.

"In this month of Independence for Pakistan, our own freedom and building peace are top-of mind among our youth," said Irfan Wahab, CEO Telenor Pakistan. "And they see enormous potential in technology serving these very purposes." The findings were gleaned from two surveys of Asian youth, assessing their attitudes toward peace-building, harnessing technology for social good and securing the jobs of the tomorrow. Together, Telenor Group surveyed nearly 7,000 millennials, ages 15-30, in seven markets in Asia. The two Telenor online surveys were conducted in May of 2017 and September-October 2016.

Artificial intelligence: Best peace-building technology When asked which technology has the largest potential to give rise to peace, 32 percent of the respondents placed their bets on artificial intelligence, followed by the Internet of Things (30 percent), and virtual reality (28 percent). Across all markets, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and virtual reality rank consistently in the top three - suggesting the vast potential seen in these future technologies by the millennial generation.

Youth to leaders: More education, more inclusion Among social causes that can lead to peace, including environmental protection, unemployment mitigation, education inclusion and civil rights, Asian youth responded that they are most passionate about education.-PR

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017