This study investigated the effects of AI-based tools, including Grammarly, ChatGPT, and Quillbot, on writing quality and student engagement among secondary school students in Hong Kong. The Mix method experimental design was used, whereby 100 secondary school students were randomly divided into an experimental group where they applied AI tools and a control group where they received the traditional teacher feedback. To evaluate the improvement of the quality of writing, pre- and post-intervention writing tasks were analyzed. The findings indicated that the students in the experimental group improved significantly in their writing where the mean post-test score improved by 16.2 points (p < 0.0001), as opposed to 4.5-point improvement by the students in the control group (p = 0.02). There is a higher improvement of all the writing subscales, such as grammar (6.5 points), vocabulary (4.8 points) coherence (2.9 points), and structure (2.0 points) of the experimental group. Students in the experimental group indicated an increased engagement and motivation as well, with 92 % of them saying they were more motivated to work on their writing skills than 68 percent in the control group. The results indicate that AI tools have a strong positive effect on the quality of writing, student participation, and engagement in writing activities. Nevertheless, AI tools are capable of correction on the surface, but not the depth that teacher feedback delivers. These findings indicate that AI tools can be used alongside conventional teaching models in order to create a more interactive and engaging learning process.

Digitalization has become an important theme in the SMEs supporting sustainable social development. Nevertheless, how SME digitization affects their access to finance, innovation, and other societal benefits is still largely uncharted territory. In this paper we explore how digitization eases the access of SMEs to finance, stimulates sustainable development-oriented innovation; and encourages SMEs to grow inclusively within the developing world. Based on the panel of province-level digital finance indicators in 2013–2021 as well as firm-level survey data of 339 SMEs, we conclude that digital financial services significantly lower financing constraints via improving information transparency and operating efficiency. However, the positive impacts vary across: private, high-technology, and eastern-region SMEs benefit more and the benefits diminish at higher than moderate levels of digital intensity. Cross-country validation further suggests that convergence between technology strategy and sustainability objectives will be essential in ensuring that technology investment does in fact achieve its desired social or environmental impact. These findings suggest that  firm-level digitalization activities could contribute towards an inclusive society, regional convergence, and sustainable development, subject to the integration of financial inclusion, capacity-building, and specific enforcement guidance.

This paper analyses the transformation of poverty and vulnerability in Bangladesh’s haor region through a 26-year longitudinal comparison of participatory poverty assessments conducted in 1999 and 2025 in the villages of Nuralipur (Khaliajuri) and Fadlipur (Gowainghat). Situated within an ecologically fragile wetland system, the study examines how climate exposure intersects with spatial disadvantage, evolving livelihoods, and changing power relations. The findings document significant declines in extreme poverty, improvements in education and infrastructure, and expanded livelihood diversification driven by migration, NGO engagement, and state social protection. However, poverty reduction has unfolded alongside widening inequality. An emergent ultra-wealthy rural elite has consolidated control over land, fisheries, and politically mediated resource flows, reflecting processes of elite capture within local governance structures. Livelihood gains remain uneven and fragile, shaped by differential access to assets, migration networks, and institutional patronage, and highly sensitive to climatic shocks and market volatility. Gender and generational shifts reveal expanding opportunities for women and youth, yet persistent structural constraints across class and religious lines. Conceptualizing vulnerability as a dynamic and relational process mediated by exposure, asset distribution, and institutional power, the study argues that rural transformation in climate-vulnerable regions represents not a linear escape from poverty but a reconfiguration of risk and inequality. Sustainable poverty reduction therefore requires climate-resilient governance that is inclusive, accountable, and attentive to structural disparities.