A Troubling New Reality

The report reveals a troubling new reality: human development is losing momentum and is precariously fragile. The global Human Development Index (HDI) is projected to record its smallest increase since the index was first introduced — excluding the crises of 2020–2021. Gaps between very high and low HDI countries, which for decades had been shrinking, have been widening for the fourth consecutive year. Without action, the world could find itself on the brink of a development crisis. Had pre-2020 trends continued, the world would now be on track to reach very high HDI status by 2030, coinciding with the deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals. If recent sluggish progress becomes the "new normal," that milestone will slip by three decades.

It is in this context that AI enters as a development wildcard — a technology holding both extraordinary promise and real risks.

People Remain Hopeful

Despite the slowing progress in human development, people remain hopeful that AI can improve their lives. A global UNDP survey of more than 21,000 people across 21 countries and 36 languages found that about two-thirds of respondents in low, medium and high HDI countries expect to use AI in education, health and work within one year. Six out of ten survey respondents expect AI will positively impact their employment by creating new job opportunities. Most respondents — 64 percent — are confident that AI will make them more productive at work, and this confidence increases as AI use rises.

Three Areas of Action

The report does not try to predict the future — it urges us to shape it. It identifies three areas of action for AI-augmented human development:

Building a complementarity economy, so people and AI find more opportunities to collaborate rather than compete. Rather than trying to guess how humans will be replaced by AI, policymakers should focus on the potential of what humans can do with AI — driving productivity gains, ensuring AI is pro-worker, and supporting workers displaced by the transition.

Driving innovation with intent, so opportunity for people is not an afterthought but a built-in integral part of AI design and deployment. AI should be harnessed to accelerate science and innovation — not by automating creative processes but by augmenting them — with incentives that embed human agency in AI from design to deployment.

Investing in capabilities that count, people have the capabilities to make the most of AI in their lives and to thrive in a world with AI. This means modernizing education and health systems to meet 21st-century demands, leveraging AI's flexibility to personalize learning and healthcare, and addressing risks related to bias, privacy, affordability and equity.

Where Kyrgyzstan Stands

Kyrgyzstan's HDI value for 2023 is 0.720, placing the country in the High human development category — ranked 117 out of 193 countries and territories. Between 1990 and 2023, Kyrgyzstan's HDI value changed from 0.649 to 0.720, a change of 10.9 percent, reflecting real and sustained progress across health, education and living standards.

At the same time, Kyrgyzstan's Gender Inequality Index (GII) stands at 0.340, ranking it 83rd out of 172 countries, while the Gender Social Norms Index (GSNI) value of 98.02 points to persistent social barriers to gender equality. These are areas where deliberate policy choices — including through the responsible deployment of AI — can make a meaningful difference.

A Matter of Choice

The report's central message is clear: the future is in our hands. AI's impact will not be defined by what it can do, but by the decisions we make in its design, development and deployment. Technology is about people, not just things. By building a complementarity economy, driving innovation with intent, and investing in capabilities that count, societies can use AI to expand people's choices and possibilities.

For Kyrgyzstan — a country with a young population, a growing digital economy, and ambitious national development goals under the National Development Programme until 2030 — this moment carries particular significance. UNDP in the Kyrgyz Republic stands ready to support the country in harnessing the potential of AI to accelerate progress in health, education, governance and economic development, ensuring that no one is left behind.

The full 2025 Human Development Report is available at https://hdr.undp.org/content/human-development-report-2025