Cenay Babaoğlu

The rapid advancement of AI technologies offers transformative opportunities alongside significant risks. AI can enhance global cooperation in areas such as healthcare and climate governance but also poses threats to international security through autonomous weapons, surveillance, and disinformation. This study examines AI’s dual role in shaping a generative world order, analyzing the U.S.-China competition and the EU’s regulatory interventions. Our analysis reveals that AI is not only a technological frontier but also a geopolitical fault line, fostering a world order where normative, economic, and security concerns converge. While the U.S. and China lead AI innovation, their escalating geopolitical tensions and economic rivalry highlight AI’s geopolitical significance. The EU, despite its limited AI industry capacity, shapes global norms through regulatory frameworks. Although Türkiye is not currently a leading actor, it emerges as a potential regional mediator, leveraging its geopolitical positioning and growing AI initiatives. This paper frames AI’s techno-political implications within global order theories, highlighting Türkiye’s soft-balancing approach as a novel case in middle-power diplomacy in the AI era.

After the publication of the Summer 2022 special issue “Embracing Emerging Technologies,” Insight Turkey coordinated a panel where distinguished participants shared their opinions on the technological developments in Türkiye. Insight Turkey hopes that the panel is fruitful and provides a better understanding of the issue at hand. The full panel can be found on our Youtube channel.

This study questions how the increasing digitalization of public administrations has been affected by the pandemic process with the rising use of technology in administrative functions. The general digitalization processes and the pandemic period’s effects were examined in this context. Then, the case of Türkiye and the digitalization steps taken by the government in different policy topics were discussed. The practices and policies developed by the local and central governments have been addressed in this context. As a result, the outputs of digital service delivery, which became widespread during the pandemic, were evaluated in relation to Türkiye. The efforts and potential benefits of this period are also emphasized. In addition, the risks and opportunities of digitalization in Türkiye were discussed. From this point of view, evaluations were made on the present and future steps.