Dr. M. Bilal Tahir<\/p>\n
Artificial intelligence was once discussed mainly as a technological revolution. Today, it is increasingly becoming a matter of trade, national security, strategic resources and global power. That shift was evident on Sunday, when US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng began talks in New York covering trade, tariffs, critical minerals and artificial intelligence. The discussions include possible safeguards for advanced AI systems and issues surrounding open- and closed-weight models. They are also taking place against the backdrop of negotiations over Chinese rare-earth magnets and other critical minerals.
\nThe significance extends far beyond another round of US-China negotiations. It signals that AI has moved from the laboratories of technology companies into the architecture of international relations.
\nFor years, the dominant questions were: How powerful will AI become? How many jobs will it change? How can businesses use it?
\nThe questions are now becoming more strategic:
\nWho will control AI? Who will regulate it? Who will have access to advanced computing? And who will define the rules governing increasingly capable systems?
\nThese questions are particularly important because AI does not exist only in software. Advanced AI depends on semiconductors, data centres, electricity, telecommunications infrastructure and critical minerals. The technology may appear to operate in the cloud, but that cloud rests on a very physical global supply chain.
\nThe emerging US-China discussions therefore reveal a larger reality: the AI race is simultaneously becoming a race over chips, computing power, energy, minerals and technological influence.
\nThe challenge is not only geopolitical.
\nLeading AI companies and researchers are themselves debating how increasingly powerful systems should be governed. Recent reporting has highlighted disagreements among technology leaders over regulation, oversight and the appropriate balance between innovation and safety.
\nThis raises a fundamental question:
\nCan companies developing the most powerful AI systems also be expected to determine the boundaries within which those systems should operate?
\nGovernments will inevitably have a role. But national regulation alone will be difficult when AI models, data, computing infrastructure and their users operate across borders.
\nAn AI system developed in one country can be accessed in another. An open-weight model can be modified and redistributed. Cybersecurity risks can cross jurisdictions instantly.
\nInternational cooperation is therefore necessary.
\nYet this is also the paradox of the AI age: the countries whose cooperation may be most necessary are also competing most intensely for technological leadership.
\nWhat does this mean for Pakistan?
\nFor Pakistan, this should not be viewed as a distant contest between major powers.
\nAI could influence almost every area of national development \u2014 education, agriculture, healthcare, water management, manufacturing, financial services, energy and public administration.
\nBut there is a danger that Pakistan becomes primarily a consumer of AI technologies developed elsewhere.
\nBuying access to foreign AI platforms is not the same as developing national AI capability.
\nPakistan needs researchers, engineers, entrepreneurs, policymakers and educators who understand both the possibilities and limitations of the technology.
\nUniversities have a particularly important role.
\nAI education should not be restricted to computer science. Future doctors, engineers, economists, teachers, lawyers and public administrators will all work in environments shaped by AI.
\nAt the same time, universities should become places where AI is applied to Pakistan\u2019s own problems: improving agricultural productivity, managing scarce water resources, strengthening disaster preparedness, developing advanced materials, improving energy systems and supporting public services.
\nThe objective should be to move from AI consumption to AI capability.
\nThat requires investment in research, computing infrastructure, digital skills, responsible governance and collaboration between universities, industry and government.
\nThere is another dimension that deserves attention.
\nThe global conversation about AI is increasingly dominated by a race for capability: bigger models, more computing power and greater automation.
\nBut capability alone cannot be the measure of progress.
\nA country may have powerful AI systems and still struggle with questions of trust, accountability, privacy, employment and inequality.
\nThe real challenge is therefore institutional.
\nCan societies build governance systems capable of keeping pace with technologies that are advancing extraordinarily quickly?
\nFor Pakistan, the answer should begin with preparation rather than imitation.
\nWe do not need to reproduce Silicon Valley or compete directly with the world\u2019s largest technology powers. We need to identify the areas in which AI can produce the greatest national value and build the human and institutional capacity to use it responsibly.
\nThat means treating AI not simply as an IT-sector opportunity but as a national development issue.
\nThe current US-China discussions offer an important lesson.
\nArtificial intelligence is no longer merely about machines becoming smarter.
\nIt is increasingly about who controls the infrastructure, resources, standards and institutions surrounding those machines.
\nThe countries that understand this early will be better positioned to shape the emerging economy.
\nFor Pakistan, the choice is becoming clearer: remain a passive consumer of technologies developed elsewhere, or invest in the people, research institutions and governance frameworks that can make the country an active participant in the AI economy.
\nThe AI era is already here.
\nThe more important question is not whether Pakistan will be affected by it.
\nIt is whether Pakistan will help shape what comes next.<\/p>\n
The writer is Director Quality Enhancement Cell, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering & Information Technology (KFUEIT), Rahim Yar Khan, Pakistan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dr. M. Bilal Tahir Artificial intelligence was once discussed mainly as a technological revolution. Today, it is increasingly becoming a matter of trade, national security, strategic resources and global power. That shift was evident on Sunday, when US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng began talks in New York covering trade, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[13232],"class_list":["post-568361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-article","tag-dr-m-bilal-tahir"],"yoast_head":"\n