A.I.
By Robert S. Loeb
January 2026
One of the major news stories of the past few years has been the emergence of A.I. We thought that might be a good place to start as we penned this piece. We simply asked ChatGPT the question: How did news outlets characterize 2025? The answer was not surprising. It was viewed, in their words, as “tumultuous, consequential, and a sobering year for global affairs, shaped by a mix of violence, political upheaval, climate extremes, technological change, and human resilience” (we like that last one). Frequent headlines mentioned the wars in Ukraine, Sudan, and Gaza; the stratospheric U.S. debt; the populism of left- and right-leaning politics; and conspiracy theories—the list goes on. Karl Rove commented in The Wall Street Journal (“The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of 2025,” December 23, 2025), “In many ways, our nation’s public life seems overwhelming. We are confused and exhausted.”
As you know, we try to balance these sentiments with good news, and we are always on the lookout for it. One of our favorite places to look is the website Human Progress. In their year-end review, they chronicled 1,084 good news stories (see attached). A sampling of these is below.
- Life expectancy has continued to rise in the world’s longest-lived countries, indicating ongoing progress against mortality at older ages.
- In 2024, about 8.2 percent of people (roughly 673 million) were undernourished, 14 million fewer than in 2023.
- Extreme poverty was estimated at 10.5 percent in 2022 (about 838 million people) and is projected to fall to 9.9 percent by the end of 2025.
- Child extreme poverty fell from 507 million in 2014 to 412 million in 2024.
- The number of child laborers dropped by over 100 million since 2000, even while the global child population grew by about 230 million.
- Safely managed drinking-water access expanded to 2.2 billion more people between 2000 and 2024.
- Safely managed sanitation expanded to 2.8 billion more people between 2000 and 2024.
- Measles deaths fell by about 88 percent since 2000, and measles vaccination is estimated to have saved nearly 59 million lives since that time.
- The global maternal mortality ratio fell by about 40 percent from 2000 to 2023.
- The global suicide rate fell by about 34 percent over the past 20 years.
As we pen these pieces every month, we are sensitive to the reality that pain, sorrow, and tragedy are part of the human condition. We always keep in mind the words of noted author Steven Pinker, who said, “Human progress does not mean that everything becomes better for everyone all the time.” Still, we hope a few of these 1,084 stories help uplift you as we begin 2026.
We are grateful for all of you — our clients and friends — and wish you a blessed and prosperous 2026.
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