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
App permission systems exist, but many apps still collect more data than users realize or intend to allow, often through complex, hard-to-navigate settings. True granular control over personal data remains inconsistently implemented across platforms.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
data
users
control
personal
apps
collect
don
have
widely
trusted
philosophy-ethics
whether
resolved
systems
determine
society-governance
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Tools designed to detect AI-written assignments frequently produce false positives, wrongly flagging legitimate student work as AI-generated. This unreliability creates real consequences for students while genuine cheating sometimes slips through undetected.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
detect
ai-generated
cheating
genuine
student
work
don
have
scalable
way
whether
philosophy-ethics
determine
resolved
prevent
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Fake reviews generated at scale by AI can be nearly indistinguishable from genuine customer feedback, undermining trust in online shopping decisions. Detection tools are struggling to keep pace with how convincing these fakes have become.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
have
fake
reviews
online
shopping
don
reliable
way
prevent
ai-generated
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
It's often unclear exactly what data went into training a given AI model, making it difficult to audit for bias, copyright issues, or harmful content. Greater transparency into training data remains technically and legally unresolved.
society-governance
global-unspecified
training
data
don
have
reliable
affordable
way
verify
provenance
major
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Advanced spyware can be installed on phones without any visible sign, and even security experts sometimes struggle to detect its presence through standard tools. Better, more accessible detection methods remain an urgent unmet need.
health-biology
global-unspecified
detect
spyware
don
have
widely
available
way
smartphone
has
been
philosophy-ethics
whether
determine
resolved
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Automated moderation systems still struggle to tell the difference between genuinely harmful content and similar-looking legitimate content, like educational or satirical material. This tradeoff between over- and under-moderation remains unresolved at scale.
social-civic-problems
global-unspecified
content
moderation
systems
harmful
legitimate
don
have
catch
also
flagging
philosophy-ethics
whether
resolved
mathematics-logic
way
determine
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Researchers have shown that inaudible or disguised audio signals can sometimes trigger voice assistants to take unintended actions without the user's knowledge. Fully closing this security gap remains unresolved.
health-biology
global-unspecified
have
voice
assistants
audio
don
reliable
way
prevent
being
manipulated
philosophy-ethics
whether
resolved
determine
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Many data centers rely on significant volumes of water to keep servers cool, straining local water supplies especially in drought-prone regions. Alternative cooling methods that don't compete with community water needs remain underdeveloped at scale.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
water
data
centers
don
cooling
yet
build
require
massive
amounts
whether
mathematics-logic
philosophy-ethics
society-governance
have
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
AI health tools can sometimes provide advice that sounds plausible but is subtly wrong or dangerous, and there's no consistent, scalable system for catching these errors before they reach real patients. This gap grows more urgent as AI health tools become more widely used.
health-biology
global-unspecified
scalable
advice
patients
don
have
way
verify
accuracy
ai-generated
medical
whether
philosophy-ethics
determine
resolved
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Smart home products from different brands frequently fail to communicate properly with each other, forcing consumers to juggle multiple apps and hubs. A universal, trusted communication standard remains incompletely adopted across the industry.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
standard
smart
home
different
build
interoperable
devices
manufacturers
work
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
mathematics-logic
don
have
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Fake or substandard electronic parts sometimes slip into supply chains for critical equipment, including medical devices and vehicles, and current detection methods are neither fast nor cheap enough to catch every case. This creates hidden safety risks across many industries.
economics-resources
global-unspecified
supply-chain
electronic
supply
chains
don
have
reliable
low-cost
way
detect
counterfeit
whether
philosophy-ethics
determine
resolved
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Solar panels contain valuable and sometimes hazardous materials that current recycling processes struggle to recover efficiently and cheaply. As the first generation of panels ages out, this waste problem is becoming more urgent.
climate-environment
global-unspecified
panels
materials
solar
don
have
efficient
way
recycle
rare
inside
whether
philosophy-ethics
determine
resolved
recycling
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Once a photo or video is edited or generated, there's often no reliable way to trace it back to prove whether the original was authentic. Building this verification into cameras and platforms from the start remains an unsolved industry challenge.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
way
don
have
widely
adopted
verify
authenticity
digital
photos
videos
philosophy-ethics
whether
determine
resolved
agreed
prevent
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
The way solid-state drives store data internally makes secure, complete deletion technically harder than with traditional spinning hard drives. This creates lingering privacy and security risks when these drives are discarded or resold.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
drives
way
data
solid-state
hard
don
have
reliable
permanently
erase
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Today's most capable AI models are trained on vast datasets scraped from the internet, often including copyrighted works and personal information without clear consent. Finding effective training methods that avoid this legal and ethical gray area remains unsolved.
philosophy-ethics
global-unspecified
don
training
methods
copyrighted
personal
have
require
enormous
amounts
data
whether
determine
resolved
agreed
way
know
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Most software vulnerabilities trace back to common coding mistakes that better language design could prevent from the start. Despite decades of research, mainstream programming still makes these mistakes easy to make.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
programming
make
don
have
languages
writing
secure
bug-free
code
default
whether
philosophy-ethics
way
determine
resolved
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Zero-day flaws are unknown weaknesses in software that attackers can exploit before a fix exists, and current detection methods still miss many of them until after damage is done. Finding these flaws proactively remains one of cybersecurity's hardest problems.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
cybersecurity
zero-day
software
attackers
don
have
reliable
way
detect
vulnerabilities
find
whether
philosophy-ethics
determine
resolved
agreed
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Algorithms trained on high-income populations may not generalise to under-sampled groups. Inclusive data-collection initiatives and equity-centric model evaluation are necessary.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
data-poor
regions
risk
being
left
out
health
advances
algorithms
health-biology
whether
philosophy-ethics
mental
don
way
supporting
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
People currently juggle dozens of separate logins and identity systems, each with different security and privacy standards. A single trusted, privacy-respecting identity system remains unbuilt at global scale.
technology-computing
global-unspecified
identity
don
have
universal
standard
digital
works
safely
every
country
whether
philosophy-ethics
resolved
determine
society-governance
open
Global / Unspecified, Global
Modern AI models produce answers without a clear, checkable chain of reasoning, making it hard to know if a correct answer was reached for the right reasons. Verifiable reasoning is essential before AI can be trusted in high-stakes decisions.
philosophy-ethics
global-unspecified
reasoning
don
have
systems
explain
way
humans
verify
modern
models
whether
resolved
determine
agreed
mathematics-logic