A selection of world thoughts – about AI – for global citizens.
What are the global perspectives on AI? Here, you will find a selection of articles from top newspapers, research publications, and leading magazines from around the world, exploring AI’s impact on language, culture, geopolitics, and economies. Our collection of local sources helps you understand the global landscape and navigate change through innovative ideas, keeping you informed about what’s relevant in this constantly evolving field.
Last Month’s Most Read Articles
China Releases “AI Plus” Policy: A Brief Analysis
A decade after revolutionizing life with “Internet Plus,” China is betting its future on “AI Plus.” A new State Council roadmap envisions AI as the nation’s next growth engine—powering everything from industry and education to governance and culture. By 2035, AI won’t just drive the economy; it will shape daily life itself. This landmark plan offers a rare glimpse into how China intends to build an “intelligent society.”
Read the full article on Geopolitechs
The Peculiar Case of Japanese Web Design
Minimalist country, maximalist websites — Japan’s digital aesthetic has long puzzled designers. A decade after the viral “Why Japanese Websites Are So Bad” post, new data analysis using AI reveals that the theory still holds: Japanese sites remain brighter, busier, and text-heavier than their global peers. But why? From aging demographics and slow tech adoption to a unique smartphone culture, Japan’s web stayed on its own path — and it’s fascinatingly beautiful in its chaos.
Read the full article on Sabrina Space
Malaysia unveils first edge AI processor MARS1000
Malaysia just launched its first locally designed edge AI processor, the MARS1000, developed by Kuala Lumpur–based SkyeChip. The milestone signals Malaysia’s ambitions to move beyond chip assembly and testing into high-value design and innovation. Backed by its new National Semiconductor Strategy and over $100 billion in targeted investments, the country is positioning itself as Southeast Asia’s next big semiconductor hub — with global giants already watching closely.
Read the full article on The Economic Times
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How I’ve Invented a Language with AI
This essay chronicles the birth of Floranør—a wholly invented language co-created with ChatGPT in a single, continuous conversation. From the first imagined word to a full grammar, dictionary, and cultural framework, the project pushed the creative limits of human–AI collaboration. Blending poetic intention, linguistic rigor, and a non-violent ethos, Floranør became not just a code for communication, but a living system. It is at once an artistic act, a political statement, and an experiment in designing language itself.
Read the full essay here
What Is ChatGPT Doing … and Why Does It Work?
This is a remarkable essay that pulls back the curtain on ChatGPT’s inner workings, revealing the elegant simplicity behind its apparent complexity. It explains how the model builds responses one token at a time, guided by vast patterns from human language—and how subtle randomness sparks creativity. By blending technical clarity with accessible storytelling, it turns machine learning mechanics into something both fascinating and human. A must-read for anyone curious about the true engine powering AI’s most talked-about conversationalist.
Read the full essay here
AI systems are built on English – but not the kind most of the world speaks
AI systems may be trained mostly in English—but it’s not just any English. From autocorrect to voice assistants, what gets encoded is overwhelmingly mainstream American English, sidelining the vast spectrum of global Englishes spoken by 1.5 billion people. This article dives into how AI reinforces linguistic hierarchies and what it means to design technology rooted in linguistic justice—not conformity.
Read the full article on The Conversation
The real cost of AI is being paid in deserts far from Silicon Valley
AI runs on lithium—but at what cost? In Chile’s Atacama Desert, Indigenous communities are fighting back against copper and lithium mining that fuels our tech boom. This powerful story, told through activist Sonia Ramos, exposes the human and environmental toll: poisoned water, rising cancer rates, and vanishing livelihoods. As ancestral land is sacrificed for AI progress, local resistance grows—demanding rights, recognition, and sustainable alternatives. A must-read on the hidden costs of innovation.
Read the full article on Rest of World
On Generative AI and Satisficing
Satisficing—a blend of “satisfy” and “suffice”—means settling for a good-enough solution instead of chasing perfection. Generative AI excels at this, cutting through endless info to offer quick, workable answers for everyday tasks like trip planning or meal ideas. But when it comes to creativity or complex challenges, AI often delivers clichés and average results.
Read the full article on The Future, Now and Then
Will A.I. Become the New McKinsey?
Think of AI not as a sci-fi superintelligence, but as a digital McKinsey—streamlining operations, cutting costs, and often putting shareholder value above people. This article unpacks how AI, like management consultancies, can quietly shape corporate decisions, intensify inequality, and sidestep accountability. It asks the hard question: is an alternative possible?
Read the full article on New Yorker
We Need to Talk About AI’s Impact on Public Health
As AI advances, so must our approach to sustainability. Massive data centers powering AI could soon consume up to 12% of U.S. electricity and strain water and air resources. But there’s hope: new strategies focus on smarter energy timing, cleaner fuel, and public health as a key metric. By shifting how and when AI systems run, we can cut pollution and protect communities—without slowing progress. Discover how innovation can serve both tech and the planet.
Read the full article on IEEE Spectrum
AI as Normal Technology
What if AI isn’t an alien superintelligence racing beyond our control, but simply the next “normal technology” — powerful, transformative, yet unfolding as slowly as past revolutions like electricity or the internet? This thought-provoking piece dismantles both hype and doom, showing how AI’s future will be shaped less by inevitability and more by human institutions, choices, and values. A grounded, historically informed vision that will make you rethink the headlines — and what real progress might look like.
Read the full paper on Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University
Two Failure Modes of Emerging Technologies
AI is exploding—but the biggest risks aren’t sci-fi scenarios. The real danger? AI either works too well in ways we don’t expect or fails badly in ways we can’t see, hurting real people. This article breaks down these two critical failure modes and why we need to focus on the real problems of AI today—not just futuristic fears.
Read the full article on The Future, Now and Then
How Apple tied its fortunes to China
In 2007, Nokia ruled mobile. Then Apple quietly rewired the game — not just with design, but with a supply chain so advanced it shocked industry veterans. Tim Cook didn’t just outsource to China — he embedded Apple into its industrial core, shaping a production ecosystem so sophisticated, no rival could catch up. Today, that edge is Apple’s vulnerability. As geopolitics shift, can the world’s most valuable company untangle itself from the machine it helped build?
Read the full article on Financial Times
Small Countries Are Seeking Asylum in Europe
In an age where superpowers jostle for territory, resources, and influence, small states can no longer rely on neutrality or distance for safety. From Iceland to Switzerland, nations once content to stand apart are edging closer to the EU, NATO, or both, seeking strength in numbers. The lesson is clear: sovereignty may feel empowering, but in a world of raw power plays, belonging to a larger alliance isn’t just strategy—it’s survival. In today’s geopolitics, mass matters more than ever.
Read the full article on Foreign Policy
The Global A.I. Divide
AI is worsening the global digital divide—just a few countries control the massive data centers powering today’s breakthroughs, while most of the world falls further behind. This article reveals how this growing gap fuels brain drain, geopolitical tension, and a fierce race for digital dominance.
Read the full article on New York Times
