Per Jacobsson Foundation Lecture: Inside the Event Horizon

Artificial intelligence is fundamentally altering the global economic trajectory and scientific landscape, necessitating a shift in how nations approach innovation, regulation, and human capital. As AI systems evolve into "virtual polymaths" capable of autonomous scientific inquiry, they promise unprecedented productivity gains but also introduce significant risks, including labor market disruption, cognitive atrophy, and systemic financial instability from massive, debt-financed infrastructure build-outs. While AI offers solutions to challenges like physician shortages and material science bottlenecks, its rapid integration threatens to displace entry-level workers and erode institutional expertise. Policymakers face the urgent task of balancing technological acceleration with restraint, ensuring that infrastructure investments are matched by robust safety standards and a renewed focus on human-centric skills. Navigating this technological singularity requires international cooperation to manage the profound societal and economic shifts that will define the coming decade.