Under the leadership of our president: ‘Potemkin AI’ and the Turkish approach to artificial intelligence

Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a buzzword in scientific research and the majority of countries have increased their AI efforts so as not to miss first mover advantages. Turkey announced its first national AI strategy in 2021, which aims at transforming the Turkish economy. The present article argues that the proposed national AI strategy does not match with realities on the ground. There are two layers that play out as an obstacle. The first is a political layer that consists of authoritarian backsliding, and ensuing institutional decay, economic slowdown and brain drain. The second is the structural layer, which includes technical fundamentals for AI development, namely data, hardware, and talent pool. Drawing on these two layers, the present contribution concludes that Turkey needs a political and structural transformation to meet its short- and long-term targets.