Generative AI as a Geopolitical Factor in Industry 5.0: Sovereignty, Access, and Control

2025-08-01

AI Summary

This paper examines the escalating geopolitical dimensions of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) within the Industrial 5.0 paradigm, highlighting its role as a strategic national asset that exacerbates global inequities in talent, computational capacity, and data resources; drives digital fragmentation; challenges human-centric collaboration principles; and raises critical governance concerns regarding control, dual-use risks, and algorithmic accountability. Method: We develop an integrated analytical framework spanning technological, economic, and ethical dimensions, employing geopolitical analysis, assessments of compute and data sovereignty, and cross-national policy comparison to systematically evaluate GenAI’s structural impacts on national sovereignty, supply chain resilience, and global governance. Contribution/Results: The study proposes a “resilience–ethics” dual-track governance paradigm, advocating simultaneous safeguarding of technological sovereignty and strengthening of multilateral coordination mechanisms to ensure responsible, inclusive, and secure GenAI development aligned with Industrial 5.0 values.

Technology Category

• Philosophy and Ethics of AI: Artificial General Intelligence
• Humans and AI: Other Foundations of Human Computation & AI
• Computer Vision: Remote Sensing / Geospatial AI

Application Category

• Social Networks and Social Media: Generative AI / large language models and their impact on social systems
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Trust and reliance of crowd workers and data experts on GenAI
• Security and Privacy: Data transparency and provenance

Abstract

Industry 5.0 marks a new phase in industrial evolution, emphasizing human-centricity, sustainability, and resilience through the integration of advanced technologies. Within this evolving landscape, Generative AI (GenAI) and autonomous systems are not only transforming industrial processes but also emerging as pivotal geopolitical instruments. We examine strategic implications of GenAI in Industry 5.0, arguing that these technologies have become national assets central to sovereignty, access, and global influence. As countries compete for AI supremacy, growing disparities in talent, computational infrastructure, and data access are reshaping global power hierarchies and accelerating the fragmentation of the digital economy. The human-centric ethos of Industry 5.0, anchored in collaboration between humans and intelligent systems, increasingly conflicts with the autonomy and opacity of GenAI, raising urgent governance challenges related to meaningful human control, dual-use risks, and accountability. We analyze how these dynamics influence defense strategies, industrial competitiveness, and supply chain resilience, including the geopolitical weaponization of export controls and the rise of data sovereignty. Our contribution synthesizes technological, economic, and ethical perspectives to propose a comprehensive framework for navigating the intersection of GenAI and geopolitics. We call for governance models that balance national autonomy with international coordination while safeguarding human-centric values in an increasingly AI-driven world.

Problem

• Examining GenAI's geopolitical role in Industry 5.0 sovereignty and control
• Addressing global power disparities in AI talent and infrastructure
• Balancing human-centric values with GenAI autonomy and governance

Innovation

• Generative AI as geopolitical tool
• Human-centric Industry 5.0 integration
• Governance balancing autonomy and coordination