Human capital futures in the global south: Employability and education policy in the age of AI

Human capital represents the relationship between education and labor productivity. Given its Global North origin, the utility of this concept within the Global South suggests a reframing of its emphasis. Since 2022, the global mainstreaming of artificial intelligence (AI) through applications such as ChatGPT, Deepseek, Gemini, and Grok are part of a wider discourse on employability as these technologies influence global education. In this article, I argue for a reframing of the concept of human capital in Global South contexts, specifically through higher education policy. I problematize the relationship between AI and higher education emphasizing its conspicuous nature. Considering the Vietnamese context as an example, I highlight State interests concerning its human capital formation. Drawing on poststructuralist theory and Critical Policy Discourse Analysis, I identify aspects of human capital formation in Global South settings concerning higher education policy. Vietnam’s 2012 Higher Education Law and its 2018 amendment are a key ideopolitical text articulating human capital specific to the Global South. The analysis reveals a historical trajectory of this policy instrument, which produced before the mainstreaming of AI, elevates human agency over technologically centered development. Moreover, Global South contexts risk undermining their human capital through an unwieldy relationship between AI and their higher education policies.