[Answered] Examine how the rapid AI surge is reshaping global power, warfare, and governance. Analyze the challenges in establishing international checks and balances to ensure humanity keeps pace with technological disruption while safeguarding ethical and democratic norms.

Introduction

In 2026, artificial intelligence rivals the Industrial Revolution in impact; with AI projected by PwC to add $15.7 trillion globally by 2030, it is fast reshaping power, conflict and governance.

AI and the Reconfiguration of Global Power

1. Compute Sovereignty as New Power Currency: Global power is increasingly defined by control over compute, data, and algorithms. States possessing advanced GPU clusters, proprietary datasets and frontier models—mainly the U.S. and China—emerge as AI superpowers, redefining techno-economic hierarchies.
2. Data Colonialism and Strategic Dependence: Developing countries risk becoming ‘data colonies’, supplying raw data while importing costly AI services. UNCTAD warns this may entrench structural digital dependency, similar to historical resource extraction.
3. AI as Instrument of Statecraft: AI is now deployed in diplomacy, sanctions enforcement, intelligence analysis and economic coercion, validating Satya Nadella’s view of AI as a tool of modern geopolitics rather than a neutral technology.

Transformation of Warfare: From Man to Machine

1. Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS): AI-enabled drones, loitering munitions and autonomous vehicles are shifting warfare from human-in-the-loop to human-on-the-loop. SIPRI notes this compresses decision-making timelines, raising risks of accidental escalation.
2. Case Study: Ukraine Conflict: Ukraine’s use of AI-assisted drones, real-time intelligence fusion and low-cost autonomous platforms against a conventionally superior adversary demonstrates AI’s asymmetric force-multiplier effect, comparable to tanks after World War I.
3. Cognitive and Cyber Warfare: AI-driven deepfakes, disinformation campaigns and algorithmic propaganda weaponize the information domain, undermining democratic trust rather than physical assets.

AI and Governance: Stress on Democratic Institutions

1. Algorithmic Decision-Making vs Rule of Law: Use of AI in welfare delivery, predictive policing and judicial assistance risks algorithmic bias, challenging constitutional principles of equality, due process and transparency.
2. Judicial and Administrative Risks: Courts globally caution against AI hallucinations, where fabricated citations or reasoning could distort justice. The OECD flags AI opacity as a threat to procedural accountability.
3. Regulatory Lag: While AI evolves exponentially, lawmaking remains linear. The EU AI Act, UNESCO’s AI Ethics Framework and G7 Hiroshima Process show progress, yet lack universal enforceability.

The Challenge of Global Checks and Balances

1. Absence of a Global AI Regulator: Unlike nuclear technology (IAEA), AI lacks a credible global oversight body. Proposals for an international AI authority face mistrust, sovereignty concerns and divergent ethical standards.
2. Consensus Deficit: States disagree on definitions of ‘safe AI’, ‘autonomy’, and ‘lethal use’, impeding binding treaties—particularly on banning autonomous weapons.

Pathways to Safeguard Humanity

1. Digital Constitutionalism: There is growing demand for a right to human decision-making, ensuring AI does not replace human moral agency in critical domains.
2. Explainable and Responsible AI (XAI): Mandating explainability, auditability and human oversight in public-sector AI can align innovation with democratic norms.
3. Multi-Stakeholder Global Governance: Effective AI governance must integrate states, Big Tech, civil society and academia, moving beyond state-centric treaties toward adaptive, inclusive guardrails.

Conclusion

Technology must serve humanity, the AI age demands a new ‘digital social contract’—where innovation advances under ethical restraint, democratic accountability and global cooperation.