Artificial intelligence as a new raw material of the 21st century – opinion

By Miguel Olivera

From the roots of civilization, some raw materials define the economic power and sovereignty of countries. Gold -shaped empires, oil industrial revolutions and electricity have increased the development of the twentieth -century technology. Now, in the digital age, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as an important source of determining the future of countries.

A pioneer in the historically scientific invention faces a critical moment of Europe: AI in this new industrial revolution must be identified with strategic good and position autonomous. Rather than technical progress, AI should be viewed as a raw material, the basic infrastructure that will be built by the important processes of economics and society.

Since oil industrialization and supplying electricity, AI is intended to be the backbone of the future strategic fields, because of the expansion of telecommunications and modern industries: health, education, security, protection and digital economy. This new stage is not just about automating tasks, but to rebuild the procedure we make, manage information and create a financial value. Countries that control AI do not have economic power, but also define the rules of the Global Economy Game. The monopoly of Large tech

The growth of American and Chinese companies is clear examples of how AI has become a geographical political tool. If Europe wants to maintain its technical sovereignty, its own designs, computational infrastructure and internal growth should be heavily investments. New AI models such as GPT-4O, Deepsek and others no longer create answers based on statistical standards. They begin to include logical processes closer than Daniel Kahneman described as “System 2”: a more analytical, more reflecting and sudden defects. But there is a cost to this evolution: this requires more processing ability and as a result, more Tokens

To support more logical times. Without the production of heavy, proper and independent tokens, Europe depends on the third parties to feed these models, compromising on the ability to develop AI systems connected to the more accurate, the more accurate and their strategic values ​​and preferences. Product Tokens

This is not just a technical problem, this new technology scenario is a basic need to ensure autonomy and competitiveness.

European developing AI needs to make sure that it is connected to its principles and values. Control of IA on the European Union (i) already takes one step in this regard by stressing transparency, responsibility and human rights. However, it is essential to control Europe and leading the innovation, promoting a strong ecosystem of research and development, can produce scientific knowledge that benefits progress and all.

We cannot fall into the trap of high control, it chokes its own capacity to move forward. Control must walk side by side with innovation. The excessive compulsory form can undermine our technology development and make the continent more dependent on foreign solutions. Bet should be under clever control, which balances protection and growth, ensuring that the AI ​​is responsible for compromising global competitiveness.

Gold, oil, electricity. These raw materials have formed an era of each. Now this is the turn of artificial intelligence. The difference is that this time is not enough to capture or buy the feature: you need to develop it, improve, and make sure it is used according to the values ​​we want to preserve.