Artificial intelligence (AI) is moving beyond the realm of technology.
asserted
intelligence → move → technology
It is becoming economic infrastructure.
asserted
It → become → ?
Access to capable models, computing power, data and skilled people will increasingly shape national competitiveness.
asserted
Access → compute → competitiveness
That makes China’s proposal at the BRICS summit in New Delhi earlier this month worth examining.
asserted
proposal → make → Delhi
President Xi Jinping has proposed that China lead the creation of a BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa] AI open-source community.
asserted
China → propose → community
It would promote cooperation in developing and applying large language models, organise specialised AI training and build an open ecosystem for participating countries.
asserted
It → promote → countries
For the Global South, this could lower one of the biggest barriers to entering the AI economy.
uncertain
this → lower → economy
Building frontier models from scratch requires enormous computing capacity, expensive data centres, vast datasets and specialised talent.
asserted
Building → build → capacity
Most developing countries cannot match the investments being made by the world’s largest technology companies.
asserted
countries → develop → companies
The strategic objective is to become a builder, adapter and exporter of tech solutions
Open-weight models offer another route.
asserted
models → become → route
Developers can download, adapt and build on them for particular languages, industries and public services.
asserted
Developers → download → languages
This can reduce the cost of experimentation and allow countries to develop applications suited to their own needs.
asserted
countries → reduce → needs
China has emerged as a major player in this space.
asserted
China → emerge → space
Models such as Qwen, DeepSeek, Kimi and GLM have expanded the range of capable systems available outside the leading Western technology companies.
asserted
Models → expand → companies
However, open-weight does not necessarily mean fully open-source.
asserted
weight → mean → source
Model weights may be available while training data, development code, or other components remain closed.
uncertain
data → remain → ?
The larger opportunity lies beyond models.
asserted
opportunity → lie → models
President Xi has also proposed a BRICS digital ecosystem cloud platform, digital-skills training, cooperation in smart manufacturing and an engineer-training alliance.
asserted
Xi → propose → manufacturing
These proposals recognise a basic fact: AI adoption depends on infrastructure and people as much as software.
asserted
adoption → recognise → software
This is where Pakistan should take a serious interest.
asserted
Pakistan → take → interest
Pakistan has a large population, a young workforce and an established IT and IT-enabled services sector.
asserted
Pakistan → have → population
The next step is to move towards higher-value AI development, integration and specialised services.
asserted
step → move → development
Open models could help the country make that transition without trying to reproduce the enormous costs of frontier AI development.
uncertain
country → help → development
Urdu and Pakistan’s regional languages remain poorly served compared with English and several other major languages.
asserted
Urdu → remain → English
A Pakistani AI ecosystem could adapt existing models to local languages and build tools for translation, document processing, education and public information.
uncertain
ecosystem → adapt → translation
Agriculture provides another practical use.
asserted
Agriculture → provide → use
AI systems could combine weather information, crop data, satellite imagery and local knowledge to provide farmers with timely advice.
uncertain
systems → combine → advice
Such tools would not replace agricultural experts.
asserted
tools → replace → experts
They could extend their reach to communities that have limited access to them.
uncertain
that → extend → them
Healthcare and education also offer large potential gains.
asserted
Healthcare → offer → gains
AI-assisted systems could help process medical records, support clinical workflows and expand access to basic information.
uncertain
systems → assist → information
In education, affordable AI tutors could provide personalised assistance to students while teachers could use the technology to prepare lessons and identify learning gaps.
uncertain
teachers → provide → gaps
The public sector should not be overlooked.
asserted
sector → overlook → ?
Pakistan’s government generates enormous volumes of regulations, statistics, court documents, administrative records and public information.
asserted
government → generate → regulations
AI systems could make these materials easier to search and analyse.
uncertain
materials → make → ?
They could also reduce routine administrative work.
uncertain
They → reduce → work
Tax administration, for example, could use AI to identify anomalies and improve communication with taxpayers.
uncertain
administration → use → taxpayers
Pakistan has struggled to raise productivity and expand exports fast enough to support sustained growth.
asserted
Pakistan → struggle → growth
AI offers a chance to sell higher-value digital services to international markets.
asserted
AI → offer → markets
Instead of competing mainly on labour costs, Pakistani firms could develop specialised solutions for finance, logistics, agriculture, education, manufacturing and other sectors.
uncertain
firms → compete → finance
…and 24 more, not listed.
The Aporia
