Artificial Intelligence: A transition tool hegemonic in the post-globaliziaton era
In the era of post-globalization, global power dynamics are changing rapidly. Artificial intelligence (AI) emerges as a strategic lever in the competition among great powers, not only for economic or military control but as a central element of a new form of cultural hegemony. To understand this transformation, it is essential to examine the concept of hegemony, understood not merely as economic dominance, but as a collective structuring of values and cultural projection.
Hegemony and the Enlightenment Legacy: From Progress to Control
The concept of hegemony has been profoundly influenced by Enlightenment thought, which in the eighteenth century proposed a progressive vision based on rationality, trial and error, and a constant improvement of humanity through science and knowledge. This vision shaped the modern world, encouraging the development of technologies that promised to free man from his limitations.
However, the introduction of artificial intelligence represents a reversal of this perspective. It is no longer a linear progress based on a dialectic of errors and discoveries, but a predictive and prescriptive model in which data and algorithms shape decisions, often removing them from human control. This change reflects a crisis of the Enlightenment model: while accumulated knowledge continues to grow, the ability to exercise critical and independent judgment diminishes, leaving room for a reality constructed and often manipulated by centralized powers.
AI, therefore, becomes a tool not only to automate processes or increase efficiency but to redefine the very concept of truth and reality, threatening to transform Enlightenment values of freedom and self-determination into mechanisms of control and subordination.
Hegemony as Cultural Projection
Traditionally, global hegemony has been interpreted as a function of GDP, military strength, or technological control. However, true hegemony is rooted in culture. Antonio Gramsci defined hegemony as a process in which a class or group dominates society through cultural consent rather than through coercion. In this view, culture becomes the most important battleground: those who control the narrative and the very concept of reality exercise the most enduring power.
In the era of AI, this dynamic intensifies. AI is not just a technical tool, but a means to build and reinforce narratives that influence the perception of reality itself. Through data manipulation and decision automation, great powers are redefining what is true and what is false, shaping the worldview for billions of people.
The Competition between the United States and China: A New Battle for Hegemony
The competition between the United States and China is the most evident example of this dynamic. The United States, still a leader in technological innovation and AI development, uses these resources to maintain a dominant position. On the other hand, China, with its rapid rise, is challenging American hegemony through massive investments in artificial intelligence, aiming to create an alternative technological and cultural ecosystem.
This competition is not limited to economic or military dominance; it is a struggle for control of the global narrative. Through the use of AI, both countries seek to influence global public opinion, shape ideologies, and promote a self-image consistent with their strategic interests. In this context, the ability to make people believe that things “are one way and not another” becomes a more effective form of power than any army.
The European Decline and the Legacy of Enlightenment
In this competition, Europe appears weak and fragmented. This is particularly ironic, considering that Europe was the cradle of the Enlightenment, which laid the foundations of rational thought and the modern technological progress. The lack of a unified strategy and significant investments in AI relegates Europe to a marginal role, raising questions about the continent’s ability to protect its cultural and intellectual heritage in a world dominated by external actors.
AI and Hegemonic Transition: From Progress to Manipulation
Artificial intelligence represents a breaking point from the Enlightenment model of progress. If the Enlightenment was based on criticism, doubt, and the search for truth through knowledge, AI introduces a paradigm in which data and algorithms establish what is real. Reality itself becomes a manipulable construct, where altered perceptions can consolidate power.
This is not a neutral process: AI often arises from military needs and reflects the strategic priorities of those who develop it. The risk is that, rather than emancipating humanity, AI becomes a tool to reinforce inequalities and consolidate the cultural and economic hegemony of dominant powers.
Ultimately, in the post-globalization era, artificial intelligence is not just a technology: it is a means to define and control the very concept of reality. For great powers, success depends not only on the ability to develop advanced technologies but also on their skill in integrating these technologies into a cultural strategy that reinforces their hegemony.
As heirs of the Enlightenment, we have a duty to maintain a critical spirit and resist monolithic narratives. No technology can establish an absolute truth, and no power can have a universal viewpoint. Hegemonic competition, with AI at its center, reminds us that power is always a matter of culture, narrative, and, above all, of who controls the definition of what is real.
