United Nations institute develops AI refugee avatars

Technology Jul 13, 2025

A research institute connected to the United Nations just launched an experimental project where you can chat with AI avatars—Amina, a refugee from Sudan, and Abdalla, a soldier.
The idea is to help people better understand what refugees go through.
You can interact with these characters on the institute's website, though some users have had trouble signing up.

Debate on tech's representation of refugees' voices

This project is more of a test than a final solution, as Columbia University's Eduardo Albrecht points out.
While the team hopes these avatars might help engage donors and raise awareness, not everyone's convinced—some feel real refugees should tell their own stories.
The experiment has sparked fresh debate about how technology should represent and support refugees' voices.