Framing the Relationship between Human Capital and Technology

• Ethical. Who is responsible for deaths caused by autonomous vehicles? Is it ethical to produce clones of humans? Who is accountable for the negative impacts of new materials or new biological forms on the environment and people? How does society avoid discrimination arising from bias in algorithms or analysis of gene characteristics that may trigger adjustments in insurance rates based on predisposition to disease or block access to educational opportunities? • Moral. What is life? How much should genes be manipulated to create new life forms, including babies with special characteristics? • Social. How does society counterbalance the tendency toward rising inequality that appears to stem from the use of these technologies? Who has the right to personal data? • Governance. What is the responsibility of the state in safeguarding citizens’ data?

How can surveillance conducted to maintain control by governments be minimized, and how do citizens have recourse to due process? What does “informed consent” mean when personal information is collected without a person’s knowledge, and when few people understand the algorithms used for the predictive analytics that shape behavior?

The World Bank’s Human Capital Project has identified the key elements in building the human capital of the next generation, specifically through “allowing all children to reach their full potential—growing up well-nourished and ready to learn, attaining real learning in the classroom, and entering the job market as healthy, skilled, and productive adults” (World Bank 2016). The emphasis is on enabling households to develop their human capital through a supportive economic and political environment. As part of the HCP, the World Bank has developed the Human Capital Index (HCI), which measures the amount of human capital that a child born today can expect to attain by age 18.5 The HCI currently excludes critical dimensions of human capital, especially of the current adult population and workforce, such as the skill levels of the workforce (which should ideally go beyond educational attainment to include job-relevant and socioemotional skills), the deployment and utilization of human capital in employment and society, and the health of the adult population, which can affect productivity and quality of life.

Various World Bank documents related to the HCP have articulated the dimensions of “building, protecting and deploying human capital” and have also highlighted the importance of empowerment (especially in relation to women), citizen engagement, and social accountability to enable households to build human capital (World Bank 2019). So far, the HCP does not incorporate technology as a catalyst or inhibitor for the development of human capital.