Aug 1, 2025
By Muhammad Junaid
With the Government of Pakistan recently approving its first-ever national policy for Artificial Intelligence (AI), laying emphasis on ‘capacity building, innovation, and the creation of new employment opportunities’, it is expected that a huge change is in the offing.
A draft from the Ministry of Information Technology projects training at least a million people in high-impact applied AI skills by 2027 – a substantial leap from the mere 10% of the IT workforce currently skilled in AI. Among other targets, Pakistan will organize bilateral AI partnerships with leading AI adopters globally by having at least three partnerships in Asia Pacific Region, three in the EU, two in African Union, and three in North America on a G2G basis by the end of this year.
As governments worldwide unveil initiatives to grapple with AI’s undeniable sway over our lives, a compelling question emerges: what kind of future are we truly building?
Need a doctor?
What if you could know you’re going to develop a disease long before any symptoms even appear? Sounds unbelievable? It’s not.
Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has already developed a groundbreaking AI technology called MILTON, capable of detecting early signs of more than 1,000 diseases, including cancer. Using deep learning algorithms, AI can now analyze medical images to identify health risks and predict the onset of disease with unprecedented accuracy.
Not just that, doctors are now using robots to perform telesurgery on patients thousands of miles away.
In June, 2025, Dr. Vipul Patel from Florida removed prostate cancer from a patient nearly 7,000 miles away in the African country of Angola, ABC reported.
Surgeons have used a multimillion-dollar robot to operate on patients using enhanced visuals and nimble controls before, but they are often near their patients when operating the machine. But Dr. Patel used fiber optic cables to test the technology at a long distance from his patient. Now with the integration of AI, there is much more to come in the field of telesurgery.
🌍 FDA-Approved, Globally Impactful.
For the first time in history, the FDA has approved an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) human clinical trial for transcontinental robotic telesurgery—and it was led by Dr. Vipul Patel @vipulpatelmd, Executive Director of the Society of… pic.twitter.com/fgQ3J1I2lF
— Society of Robotic Surgery | SRS (@socroboticsurg) June 18, 2025
In July this year, an AI-powered robot successfully separated the gall bladder from the liver of a dead pig in what researchers claim is the first realistic surgery performed by a machine with almost no human intervention.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the robot uses a two-tier AI system trained on 17 hours of surgical video, capturing 16,000 motions made by human surgeons. The system completed the operation eight times, achieving 100 percent success in each attempt.
A team of Johns Hopkins–led researchers developed a robot capable of successfully performing autonomous surgery on a lifelike patient with no human intervention required. This federally funded work is a transformative advancement in surgical robotics. https://t.co/fUhHFx2Ix1
— Johns Hopkins University (@JohnsHopkins) July 10, 2025
In addition, AI-powered platforms like Atomwise are revolutionizing the drug discovery process. By predicting which molecules are most likely to become effective drugs, these tools significantly accelerate development timelines, potentially saving millions of lives.
The face of modern warfare
The three-day armed conflict between India and Pakistan in May, 2025 offered a glimpse into what the wars of the future might entail.
During a media briefing on May 9, Air Vice Marshal Aurangzeb Ahmed of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) described Pakistan’s campaign during the air battle with India on the night between May 6 and 7 as an example of ‘multi-domain operations’, while reiterating the PAF’s position that six Indian jets were shot down, a claim the Indian side neither confirmed nor denied.
What unfolded in May was not just the use of electronic warfare capabilities during the air battle but also subsequent operations in the cyber domain. According to Pravin Sawhney, a prominent Indian journalist, the Pakistan Air Force’s Centre of Artificial Intelligence and Computing, established in 2020 with Chinese support, played a crucial role in giving Pakistan a clear advantage in the electromagnetic spectrum. He believes Pakistan demonstrated these capabilities by jamming and disrupting communications of the adversary, first during the 2019 Operation Swift Retort and later in Operation Bunyan-ul-Marsoos. He believes that the side with more advanced cyber and electronic capabilities will hold the upper hand in future wars.
The United States, China, and Russia are leading the race to develop so-called ‘killer robots’ or Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS), designed to identify and engage targets without human intervention. Powered by AI, robotics, and advanced sensor technologies, these systems can independently decide when and how to use force, raising serious concerns about the deployment of lethal force without direct human oversight.
The world has already witnessed the use of AI-powered weapons in conflict zones such as Gaza and Ukraine, where they have been deployed for surveillance, targeted strikes, and real-time battlefield decision-making, with experts warning that time is running out to put guardrails on this new and lethal technology.
Chinese researchers have invented a game-changing mosquito-sized bionic robot.
This can be used for info reconnaissance and other special tasks on the battlefield. pic.twitter.com/jEIl9GYsM1
— Li Zexin 李泽欣 (@XH_Lee23) June 19, 2025
Who needs a driver?
AI is the backbone of self-driving technology, enabling vehicles to interpret their surroundings, process information, and make real-time decisions with human-like precision. Companies like Tesla, Waymo, and Cruise are using AI to produce vehicles that can navigate complex urban environments and highway systems.
American aeronautical company Alef Aeronautics recently released footage of its concept flying car, the Alef Model A, showing it performing a vertical takeoff and flying over a parked SUV. Priced at around $300,000, the electric vehicle is expected to have an airborne range of 110 km (68 miles). The cockpit, however, is compact—designed to fit only one and a half people.
However, the company is developing future models with autonomous flight capabilities, which will heavily rely on AI.
Alef's flying car is taking the fiction out of sci-fi pic.twitter.com/cnPfdVvuDg
— Mashable (@mashable) May 14, 2025
In Pakistan, the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence at NED University of Engineering and Technology is developing a driverless car, with test drives expected within six months. Researchers associated with the project say the vehicle will be ready for road use in the near future.
Thank you for your services!
A recent World Economic Forum (WEF) survey has revealed that 41 per cent of companies worldwide plan to reduce their workforce by 2030 due to the growing integration of artificial intelligence (AI).
At the same time, 77 per cent of large firms say they intend to reskill or upskill their employees to work alongside AI between 2025 and 2030, reflecting a parallel effort to adapt rather than replace human workers entirely.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), AI may impact around 60 per cent of jobs in advanced economies, with about half of those roles likely to benefit from increased productivity, while the rest could face reduced demand or lower wages. In contrast, exposure to AI in emerging markets and low-income countries is expected to be lower—40 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively—but these regions may struggle to reap AI’s benefits due to limited infrastructure and a shortage of skilled labour.
Experts are asking the big questions: Are we ready for the rise of AI? What rules and ethics should guide it? Will it eventually take over humanity? No one has all the answers — but one thing is certain: the AI era is coming, and it’s coming fast. Get ready.