Repository of problems worth solving
World Solve is a public institutional repository for identifying real unresolved problems across science, society, health, governance, economics, and local systems. Each entry is intended to be citable, inspectable, and actionable.
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4194Total
4194Open
0Solved
9Humans
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
As AI-powered search and assistants become primary ways people find information, a small number of companies effectively shape what most people see and believe. Ensuring this influence remains fair and transparent remains a largely unresolved governance issue.
society-governance
global-unspecified
companies
influence
information
haven
solved
prevent
large
having
outsized
over
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
mathematics-logic
determine
way
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Low-code and no-code platforms have made software creation more accessible, but users without security expertise can still inadvertently build applications with serious vulnerabilities. Making these tools both accessible and inherently safe remains an unresolved design challenge.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
build
accessible
tools
software
security
programming
let
non-experts
safely
powerful
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
haven
resolved
determine
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
AI hiring systems trained on historical hiring data can inadvertently learn and repeat past patterns of discrimination, even when explicitly designed to avoid it. Fully eliminating this bias while maintaining useful screening capability remains unresolved.
health-biology
global-unspecified
hiring
fully
bias
don
have
reliable
way
make
ai-powered
tools
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
mathematics-logic
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
A surprising amount of the internet's daily traffic runs through a small number of major cloud providers, meaning a single technical failure can take down countless unrelated websites and services at once. Reducing this concentrated fragility remains an unresolved structural issue.
philosophy-ethics
global-unspecified
internet
single
failure
cloud
haven
found
way
prevent
large-scale
outages
whether
mathematics-logic
resolved
technology-computing
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Video files, especially in high resolution, still require significant storage and bandwidth despite decades of compression research, and further meaningful improvements have become harder to achieve. This constrains streaming quality and cost, especially in areas with limited bandwidth.
philosophy-ethics
global-unspecified
compression
video
yet
build
data
methods
meaningfully
outperform
current
standards
whether
climate-environment
technology-computing
mathematics-logic
open
way
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
As AI-generated faces and voices become more realistic, some biometric security systems can potentially be fooled by convincing synthetic versions of a real person's face or voice. Strengthening these systems against this emerging threat remains an active challenge.
society-governance
global-unspecified
systems
biometric
security
don
have
reliable
way
detect
ai-cloned
identities
whether
philosophy-ethics
technology-computing
resolved
mathematics-logic
determine
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Automatically applying every software update reduces security risk but occasionally introduces new bugs or incompatibilities, while manual review introduces dangerous delays. Balancing these risks reliably remains an unresolved operational challenge.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
software
haven
solved
make
patch
management
fully
automatic
risking
unexpected
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
resolved
possible
way
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Techniques that let multiple parties jointly compute something without revealing their private data to each other exist, but they remain too slow and complex for widespread practical adoption. Making this both secure and fast enough remains an active research challenge.
society-governance
global-unspecified
secure
fast
enough
practical
build
fully
multi-party
computation
systems
everyday
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
haven
technology-computing
possible
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
While hardware energy use gets some attention, the carbon footprint of running specific pieces of software, from development to daily use, remains largely unmeasured and unaccounted for. Building this tracking into standard practice remains unresolved.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
carbon
footprint
software
don
have
widely
adopted
way
track
full
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
agreed
mathematics-logic
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
People increasingly turn to AI chatbots for guidance on legal or financial questions, but these systems can provide plausible-sounding yet incorrect advice with no clear warning of their limitations. Better safeguards around this kind of high-stakes advice remain underdeveloped.
society-governance
global-unspecified
advice
chatbots
legal
financial
haven
found
way
prevent
providing
confidently
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
mathematics-logic
technology-computing
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Companies increasingly build products using AI models developed by others, but there's no consistent, scalable way to verify those models are safe and reliable before integration. This creates hidden risk throughout the growing AI supply chain.
economics-resources
global-unspecified
supply-chain
models
scalable
way
verify
products
don
have
safety
third-party
businesses
philosophy-ethics
whether
determine
resolved
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Older adults are often left behind as digital tools and platforms evolve quickly, with educational resources struggling to keep up with both the pace of change and different learning needs. Closing this generational digital literacy gap remains an ongoing challenge.
social-civic-problems
global-unspecified
digital
literacy
keep
pace
older
haven
solved
make
education
rapidly
technology-computing
whether
philosophy-ethics
african
remains
mathematics-logic
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Even with extensive automated testing, software products regularly ship with bugs that only appear once real users start interacting with them in unpredictable ways. Comprehensive, fully reliable bug detection before release remains an unsolved engineering challenge.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
software
testing
bug
users
build
tools
catch
every
meaningful
product
whether
philosophy-ethics
mathematics-logic
haven
resolved
way
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Recommendation algorithms optimize for engagement, which can unintentionally narrow the range of content users are exposed to over time, reinforcing existing beliefs rather than broadening perspective. Designing systems that balance engagement with diversity of exposure remains unresolved.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
recommendation
systems
users
narrow
don
have
reliable
way
prevent
trapping
philosophy-ethics
whether
resolved
determine
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Recovering valuable materials from electronic waste is technically possible but often not profitable enough on its own to attract the investment needed to handle the sheer volume being generated. Making this economically viable at scale remains unresolved.
economics-resources
global-unspecified
profitable
enough
scale
needed
haven
found
way
make
e-waste
recycling
mathematics-logic
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
climate-environment
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Consumer wearables can track things like heart rate and sleep, but their accuracy still falls short of clinical medical equipment for many important health metrics. Closing this accuracy gap remains an ongoing hardware and software challenge.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
health
medical
yet
build
wearable
devices
accurate
enough
fully
replace
whether
philosophy-ethics
haven
mathematics-logic
health-biology
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
AI-generated contracts, court filings, or legal notices can appear authentic enough to deceive people unfamiliar with proper legal formatting, creating new fraud risks. Detecting these fakes reliably remains an emerging unresolved challenge.
society-governance
global-unspecified
legal
don
have
effective
way
prevent
systems
generating
convincing
fake
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Many popular games include purchasable randomized rewards that closely resemble gambling mechanics, and current age protections and regulations remain inconsistent across different countries and platforms. Protecting younger players from this remains an unresolved policy and design challenge.
society-governance
global-unspecified
mechanics
younger
players
haven
solved
make
video
game
loot
box
philosophy-ethics
whether
mathematics-logic
resolved
climate-environment
way
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Cloud storage relies heavily on trusting individual companies to remain operational and reliable long-term, and if a provider fails or shuts down, users can lose access to their data. A truly provider-independent guarantee remains unbuilt.
society-governance
global-unspecified
cloud
storage
guarantee
data
remain
provider
build
systems
will
accessible
technology-computing
whether
philosophy-ethics
haven
mathematics-logic
climate-environment
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Without standardized measurement, it's difficult to compare the true environmental cost of different AI systems or hold companies accountable for improving efficiency. A consistent, transparent measurement standard remains undeveloped.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
different
don
have
universally
accepted
way
measure
energy-efficient
models
actually
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
agreed
mathematics-logic
