Slow but steady support is the answer [Lee Seo-yun's AI & Human Intelligence]

Discussions about reliance on foreign technology have largely focused on national-level implications, often marginalizing concerns about individual rights. Traditionally, it has been difficult to find instances where foreign technologies or services infringed upon personal freedoms, and the idea of linking unrelated individual actions to service providers seemed unfamiliar. Modern states possess efficient means like administrative or penal powers to address lawbreakers, making internet disconnections for criminals unnecessary.

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Modern states possess efficient means like administrative or penal powers to address lawbreakers, making internet disconnections for criminals unnecessary.

However, when a state seeks to regulate the actions of individuals outside its jurisdiction, traditional methods become less effective. A more potent approach involves leveraging a nation's dependence on foreign technology. This can include pressuring a target by ordering domestic companies to abruptly close their email accounts, block access to payment methods, or revoke access to AI services. For example, following the International Criminal Court's issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on the ICC through an executive order. These sanctions exposed specific ICC individuals to financial and administrative restrictions, reportedly causing some to struggle with accessing essential services like bank accounts. Karim Khan, the prosecutor elected during the author's tenure at the ICC, had his Microsoft email account suspended.

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When a single company dominates a market, its standards and specifications tend to reshape the entire technological ecosystem.

When a single company dominates a market, its standards and specifications tend to reshape the entire technological ecosystem. Businesses rationally develop products and services based on the most widely used technologies. This concentration of power means that the legal and political decisions of a company's home country significantly influence global users. In contemporary society, even if citizens' practical activities are legally situated within their own country, their technological presence often spans multiple jurisdictions. As AI increasingly automates tasks, technological sovereignty gains even greater importance. Evaluating AI self-sufficiency solely by the presence of domestic AI models is insufficient, as AI is a product of a complex technological value chain. Developing AI models requires high-performance semiconductors, vast computing resources for training, data centers and cloud infrastructure for deployment, and a supporting software ecosystem and development tools. Therefore, assessing AI technological independence requires a multidimensional perspective. While complete self-sufficiency is unrealistic in today's complex technological landscape, nations and societies must secure a minimum level of choice and control over core technologies and infrastructure. This includes the ability to select which technologies to use, find alternatives when certain technologies become unavailable, and maintain essential national functions for a period even if the external supply chain is disrupted. Consistent policy support, rather than short-term performance fluctuations, is crucial.

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Therefore, assessing AI technological independence requires a multidimensional perspective.