Artificial Intelligence as an Infrastructure of Power in the Era of Digital Transformation

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a central driver of digital transformation and an increasingly important source of strategic power. While existing research has examined AI primarily through military, economic, governance, and security applications, less attention has been devoted to the infrastructures that enable AI capabilities to become durable sources of power. This study asks: How does AI function as an infrastructure of power in the digital era, and through which mechanisms is AI capability converted into strategic power? Using a qualitative and analytical approach, the study integrates scholarship on infrastructural power, network power, technological competition, and AI in international relations. It argues that AI power depends on an interconnected ecosystem of data, computational capacity, semiconductors, energy, human capital, innovation institutions, and technological standards. The findings show that these infrastructures allow AI capabilities to generate economic, military, informational, political, and scientific advantages, while control over technological chokepoints can create asymmetric interdependence and strategic leverage. At the same time, external dependence on chips, computing infrastructure, energy, and specialized expertise can generate significant vulnerabilities. The study concludes that AI should be understood not merely as a technological instrument but as an infrastructure through which contemporary power is produced, multiplied, and redistributed. Its strategic value therefore depends increasingly on who controls the ecosystems and networks that make advanced AI possible.

کلیدواژه ها:

Artificial Intelligence ، Digital Transformation ، Infrastructural Power ، Strategic Power