A simple exchange between friends recently captured a dilemma at the heart of our age. Two people were debating global affairs when I interrupted and asked, half playfully, if they had managed to solve the world’s problems. Their answer was telling: “No—but we created plenty of new ones.” That humorous confession exposes an unsettling truth. Too often, today’s leaders—political and corporate alike—engage in endless debate about crises yet deliver few enduring solutions. Their “remedies” are typically short-term fixes, elaborate illusions that conceal the roots of our challenges or create entirely new ones.

Nowhere is this paradox sharper than in the breakneck ascent of artificial intelligence. Fueled by geopolitical competition and the race for dominance, nations are deploying ever-more-powerful large language models while neglecting the ethical and societal groundwork essential to sustain them. In the rush for technological primacy, questions of safety, governance, and—most critically—the economic destiny of ordinary workers are too often ignored.

AI is a tool of astonishing capacity. It can automate complex tasks, analyze vast troves of information, and generate exponential........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)