The Global Race for Artificial Intelligence: Trump’s Executive Order and Pakistan’s Silence!
By: Raja Zahid Akhtar Khanzada
It is said that the nations who do not carve the designs of their dreams on the fabric of time, get swept away in the rivers of history and become mere grains of sand. Today, as the world redefines its existence with the enchanting magic of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the pen in the hands of humanity has been replaced by code. This is the era where the birds of thought are flying in the skies of data, and the roots of the tree of knowledge are embedded deep into the soil of algorithms.
Here, the American President Donald Trump has issued such a historic executive order that can not only give a new direction to the future of education in the United States, but also serves as a moment of deep reflection for the entire world—especially the countries of the Third World. The purpose of Trump’s order is to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the school-level curriculum, so that the new generation can be prepared for the world of technology. This executive order not only promotes AI courses, training, and apprenticeship opportunities in educational institutions, but also instructs federal agencies to set research priorities in this field.
President Trump says this is a major step, because AI is the path to the future, and we are witnessing billions and trillions of dollars being invested in this field. Trump’s initiative regarding AI will not only open a new chapter in education, but also in the American economy, labor market, and the world of technology—equipping the future generation with advanced skills.
But in stark contrast, the lamps of education are being extinguished on the soil of Pakistan. Where the world is building its palaces of the future with the light of AI, our generation is standing in the shadow of forgotten dreams, eyes closed, dreaming of progress.
Pakistan too had launched the “Presidential Initiative for Artificial Intelligence and Computing” (PIAIC) in 2018, whose aim was to promote education and research in AI, blockchain, and cloud computing. However, the project continues with limited impact. Pakistan’s Ministry of IT and Telecom formulated a policy in 2023 which aimed to train one million IT graduates in AI and related technologies by 2027. But the ground realities reveal a shortage of necessary resources, trained teachers, and basic infrastructure to achieve these targets.
Our educational policies, in the name of AI, are limited to a few conferences, seminars, and private courses.
Provincial governments are virtually silent spectators in this field.
Is it not a tragedy that while India is making AI a compulsory subject in its schools, we are still debating how to protect ourselves from the “Western agenda”?
Have we ever thought that AI is not just a tool, but the foundation of a new civilization?
The nations that dismiss it as a “moral threat” are swept away in the current of history.
At this time, Pakistan needs three fundamental pillars to succeed in the field of AI:
1. “Educational reform:” where curriculum books integrate the philosophy, ethics, and technology of AI.
2. “Teacher training:” where educators not only teach code, but compel students to think, “How can AI become a guiding light for humanity?”
3. “State vision:” where the government doesn’t just make policies but makes AI a part of national identity.
But alas! We have failed on all three fronts.
There’s a shortage of computers in our schools, teacher training remains a distant dream, and at the state level, AI is not given priority.
While in countries like India, companies such as Infosys and TCS are training their youth in AI and turning them into global players, here the term AI is still confined to a few university courses.
Trump’s executive order has held a mirror to the world revealing that in today’s era, power no longer lies with the atom bomb, but with artificial intelligence (AI).
The same atom bomb that nations considered their security guarantee for decades today, even that can be paralyzed by a single line of code or a cyberattack.
Now wars will not be fought with gunpowder, but with bits and binary.
Nations that have recognized the reality of AI want to make their youth not just consumers but creators, creators of new systems, architects of new worlds.
And those nations that remain unaware of this revolution will, in the future, become mere spectators
holding not the pen of history, but only the dust of the past.
If Pakistan still does not awaken, our coming generations will be chained in digital slavery.
Our economy, our defense, and our sovereignty all will be in danger.
Do we want our children to use AI tools created by India or China tomorrow?
Can we tolerate our generation becoming mere data-collecting laborers?
If not, then we need an “intellectual rebellion” not just educational reform, but a revolution that breaks the existing curriculum and builds a new system.
Where every student holds the power of code,
where teachers evaluate AI through philosophical thought,
and where the state considers it a matter of national dignity.
Today, as America lays the foundation for AI for the next hundred years,
Pakistan, too, must decide for its younger generation.
Do we want to become mere spectators of history, or its creators?
If we continue to keep our eyes shut even now, the future generations will not forgive us.
The times demand, that we tear through the veil of slumber and enter the realm of reality.
AI is not just a technology it is a question of our survival.
The mirror held up by America shows us clearly
that now knowledge is not merely power it is the future.
And that future will belong only to those nations that know how to link the chains of code to the sun of knowledge.
The river of time has brought us to a crossroads: Either we draw a path from this light and pass the torch of thought and creativity to the next generation,
or we let ourselves, our language, and our identity dissolve like a nameless grain of sand in the flood of darkness
where there will be no light, no voice, and no recognition.
