4-Slide Mini Deck · Human-Development Conversion Constraint
The Constraint, in four slides
Micheal Charles Preble · SSRN 7416900 · Conceptual, philosophical analysis
Slide 1 of 4
The Problem
Artificial capability and human capability are commonly treated as the same trajectory. A society can become far more capable technologically while its people's substantive opportunities stay flat, unequal, or worsen.
Slide 2 of 4
The Contribution
The Human-Development Conversion Constraint: a progress claim is warranted only when capability is converted into substantively valuable, sufficiently distributed, sufficiently durable human possibility — not by capability, adoption, or output alone.
Slide 3 of 4
How It Works · Evidence Status
Six analytically distinct stages: artificial capability → practical access → effective use → AI-assisted functioning → retained human capacity → substantive human development. Movement between them is possible, never guaranteed.
Evidence status: Conceptual, philosophical constraint; normative rather than causal.
Slide 4 of 4
Why It Matters · Limits · Open Questions
Prevents rising machine capability from being silently read as rising human progress. Limits: no single metric; may be empirically premature for very recent technologies. Open: Goodhart-style gaming of human-development metrics; causal attribution.
Preble, Micheal Charles. “The Human-Development Conversion Constraint: What Should Count as Progress in AI-Rich Societies?” Available at SSRN 7416900, 2026.