Designing and deploying AI for innovation and working towards an ‘AI-enabled economy.
The 2025 edition of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) flagship report, the Human Development Report (HDR) is out and like with most analysis of the present state of development in our world, it brings little uplifting news.
It confirms shared fears about declining developmental progress, worsening inequalities within and between regions, and overall, a worrying trajectory for human development. The verdict: “stalled progress on the Human Development Index in all regions across the world.” Plus, other gloomy descriptors like “unprecedented slow down,” “global turmoil” and “real threats to global progress.” Per the report, this trend continues the post Covid-19 pandemic trajectory of decline on human development progress which affects every region of the world.
First released in 1990, the HDR approach centres around people, their capabilities and well-being in the development process. It is poignant to note that while today tensions dangerously escalate between India and Pakistan; 35 years ago, Pakistani economist Mahboub Ul Haq pioneered the human approach to development mostly drawing inspiration from Indian economist and Nobel Laurete Amartya Sen of the “development as freedom” fame.
Basic dimensions
Another of the HDR approach’s signature contribution was the introduction of the Human Development Index (HDI) as a comparative measure of the basic dimensions of human development across countries. The HDR typically includes a ranking for countries on the HDI Index. The higher the score (on a scale of 0-1) the better the country’s human development outlook, and vice versa.
The HDI broadly measures progress in income, health, and education. It offers a helpful contrast to monetary measures of development via indicators like the Gross Domestic Product. Since its start, several other efforts have gone into improving these non-monetary measures of developmental progress. A notable example is the Multi-dimensional Poverty Index.
Titled, “A matter of choice: people and possibilities in the age of artificial intelligence,” the 2025 HDR endeavours to keep with the times and explores the potential developmental use of artificial intelligence (AI). It also examines the scope of AI to subvert or enhance human agency while underscoring context, choice, and power dynamics within the ‘AI race.’ It asks questions about how AI differs from earlier technologies, who produces the technology (and with what intent) and whether AI can work for people.
The report cautions against AI hype, urging safeguards to ensure it does not worsen inequalities (such as via the digital divide) and harm sustainability. It suggests a proactive approach that looks to shape AI technology in the interest of people and their development through policy measures, incentives, and actions on areas of complementarity (say to boost productivity gains at work), designing and deploying AI for innovation and working towards an ‘AI-enabled economy.’
This sort of policy intervention would allay concerns about AI replacing cadres of the workforce, instead highlighting the scope for complementary use to boost performance. And where AI disrupts work or leads to job losses, attention should go into boosting social protection mechanisms as well as investing in adaptive skills to improve access to alternative job opportunities. In terms of automation, possibilities exist on product innovation to boost outputs, sales etc.
If the global survey undertaken as part of the report is an indicator, then AI is here to stay and is not a passing cloud as it confirms that AI use is growing. Twenty per cent of respondents from across countries (in all levels of the HDI spectrum) already show a substantial use of the technology. Unsurprisingly, one of the high use groups are students. The survey also finds that young people are less wary about losing control over their lives on account of heightened AI integration as compared to older people.
Language bias
On AI’s innovation potential, the report addresses a major sticking point and suggests steering it in ways that are more context and culturally sensitive and attuned. This also goes to the heart of the ‘mismatch’ between AI technology producers/generators and users. Which is a consequential power dynamic where control over the technology exists only in few places, excluding the majority (prospective) users and relegating them to ‘helpless’ consumers on the receiving end of ‘mythical’ algorithms.
A simple example is the way in which chat GPT responses show closer cultural affinity and resonance to individuals in high HDI countries (where the tech originates) and is distant from those in countries with lower HDI (consumers of the technology). Language bias (of the technology) is another significant dimension of this divide. This is where the role of regulation and cooperation at international levels comes in.
Given the evidence that traditional development pathways are unfit for the turbulence, pressures, and unpredictability of present times, a non-business-as- usual approach is necessary. As technologies like AI permeate societies and lives everywhere, attention must go into exploring, shaping, and steering them to be an enabler of human development and safeguarding against deterrent effects.
Atieno Ndomo is a social policy analyst with a keen interest in political economy.
