AI as Public Infrastructure: A Critical Review of the Transition from Tool to Societal Necessity

İbrahimov, Oktay (2025): AI as Public Infrastructure: A Critical Review of the Transition from Tool to Societal Necessity. Published in: CURRENT TRENDS IN COMPUTING , Vol. 3, No. 2 (1 January 2026): pp. 40-61.

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) has ceased to be a collection of discrete tools. It is now a general-purpose cognitive infrastructure—an expanding layer that mediates learning, resource allocation, decision-making, and power across economies and polities. From finance and healthcare to education, defense, and public administration, AI systems increasingly shape both productivity and the legitimacy of institutions themselves. This paper conceptualizes AI as Public Infrastructure (AIPI)—a governance framework for managing the interface between globally produced AI systems and domestic institutions. AIPI operates as a filter-translation membrane, channeling the inflow of capabilities through cultural, legal, ethical, economic, and contractual layers before embedding them in critical national workflows. Drawing on real-world governance practice, we identify three dominant styles—market-led, state-led, and hybrid—defined by how authority, accountability, and coordination are distributed across public and private actors. Using country cases, we show the conditions under which AI capabilities cross into public-infrastructure status and thus warrant infrastructure-grade obligations. For small and mid-tier states, the realistic strategic aim is governed dependence—the deliberate alignment of imported frontier systems with national priorities and assurance capacity—rather than unattainable autonomy. To operationalize this perspective, we introduce the Infrastructure Status Index (ISI) as a jurisdiction- and domain-specific metric. ISI scores a given country × sector on four dimensions—Essentiality, Embeddedness, Legitimacy, Governance—to answer two questions: (1) has the national capability crossed public-infrastructure thresholds? (2) where does governance lag adoption? Taken together, the AIPI–ISI frameworks form a national/sectoral design and oversight architecture: they translate diagnosis into clear obligations and pathways for implementation, so imported AI can be embedded purposefully and accountably.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Artificial intelligence; AI as Public Infrastructure; AI governance; AI-human collaboration; Infrastructure Status Index
• Subjects: O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences ; Diffusion Processes

References

[1] S. L. Star and K. Ruhleder, "Steps toward an ecology of infrastructure: Design and access for large information spaces," Information Systems Research, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 111–134, 1996.

[2] J. Burrell, "How the machine 'thinks': Understanding opacity in machine learning algorithms," Big Data & Society, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 1–12, 2016.

[3] S. U. Noble, Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. New York: NYU Press, 2018.

[4] R. Benjamin, Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2019.

[5] J. Zittrain, "The generative internet," Harvard Law Review, vol. 119, pp. 1974–2040, 2006.

[6] P. Kalluri, "Don't ask if artificial intelligence is good or fair—ask how it shifts power," Nature, vol. 583, pp. 169, 2020.

[7] N. Srnicek, Platform Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2017.

[8] Gartner, "AI Adoption Survey: Enterprise Trends and Priorities," Gartner Research, 2024.

[9] McKinsey & Company, "The State of AI in 2024: Global Survey Results," McKinsey Global Institute, 2024.

[10] MIT Technology Review, "AI Adoption in the Enterprise: 2024 Benchmarking Survey," MIT Technology Review Insights, 2024.

[11] Stack Overflow, "Developer Survey 2024," 2024. [Online]. Available: https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2024/ (accessed on December 10, 2025)

[12] Forrester Research, "The Forrester Wave: AI Infrastructure Platforms, Q1 2024," Forrester, 2024.

[13] IDC, "Worldwide Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Forecast, 2024–2028," IDC Market Analysis, 2024.

[14] Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 2024 Talent Trends Survey: Artificial Intelligence in HR, SHRM Research, 2024.

[15] European Union, "Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council on Artificial Intelligence (AI Act)," Official Journal of the European Union, 2024.

[16] Pew Research Center, "Americans' Use of and Attitudes Toward Artificial Intelligence," Pew Research Center, Internet & Technology, 2024.

[17] European Commission, "Europeans' Attitudes Towards Artificial Intelligence," Special Eurobarometer 527, 2024.

[18] C. Véliz, Privacy Is Power: Why and How You Should Take Back Control of Your Data. London: Bantam Press, 2020.

[19] S. Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. New York: PublicAffairs, 2019.

[20] STRATEGY for the development of the digital economy in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2026–2029, 10 December 2025, https://president.az/az/articles/view/70750 (accessed on December 19, 2025)