Moscow Polytechnic University Expert Shared Opinion on Role of AI in Ensuring Sovereignty at CIS International Economic Forum

The CIS International Economic Forum (CIS IEF) was held on April 3 at the World Trade Center in Moscow. One of the key topics was the role of artificial intelligence in ensuring sovereignty. Nazir Magsi, a lecturer in the Moscow Polytech Department of Management, shared his opinion on this topic.

According to the expert, the sections "Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive, and Digital Technologies in the Service of Sovereignty – New Tools for Digital Independence" and "Artificial Intelligence and Digital Technologies – A New Path to Building Sustainable Sovereignty" occupied a central place on the forum's overall agenda.

As Nazir Magsi noted, raising such topics at such a high international level is particularly important today. The modern information and technological space is becoming not only an environment for data exchange but also a space for the development of decisions, behavioral models, educational practices, and even the very framework of thought. In these circumstances, issues of digital independence, cognitive resilience, and technological sovereignty extend far beyond the technical agenda and become part of the strategic development of states.

"Today, it is no longer sufficient to view AI solely as a tool for increasing efficiency. It is increasingly clear that AI influences not only information processing but also the very structure of human activity, decision-making, and knowledge generation. This is why discussing its role in the context of sovereignty is not only relevant, but strategically necessary," emphasized Nazir Magsi.

The expert also noted that the impact of AI on the cognitive sphere, particularly in education, occurs in at least three forms:

First, it is the redistribution of cognitive load, when some intellectual effort is transferred from humans to technological systems.

Second, it is the substitution of individual cognitive processes, in which technology begins to perform the functions that previously ensured the development and application of human knowledge, analytical, and interpretive skills.

Third, it is the creation of new cognitive capabilities and practices that were previously impossible or only poorly accessible without digital tools. This approach raises a fundamental question: when considering cognitive sovereignty, it is essential to understand not simply the presence of technology, but the scope and depth of its influence. The key task is to identify what exactly technology does: assist people, redistribute workloads, replace their functions, or create fundamentally new mechanisms of thinking and interaction. Without such a distinction, it is impossible to develop either an adequate educational policy or sustainable approaches to ensuring digital and cognitive independence.

"These sections of the forum created a space for discussing not only technological capabilities, but also the fundamental principles upon which state development should be based in an era of rapid digital transformation. This is about the need to develop approaches in which technology will strengthen the agency of society and the state, rather than erode it," comments Nazir Magsi. "Discussing AI, cognitive, and digital technologies within the logic of sovereignty is a step toward a more mature understanding of the future." Technological development in it must be combined with the preservation of the ability to independently generate knowledge, make decisions, set one’s own development trajectory, and maintain one’s own value-semantic system as the basis for sustainable sovereign development.”