There is little doubt that humankind has entered a new era of progress, prosperity, and peril. The advent and rise of artificial intelligence (AI) have altered the concept of machines by transitioning them from human-controlled to intelligent and autonomous (Makridakis 2017). While there is little doubt that AI is transforming all aspects of human life, and most government executives understand the importance of adopting the AI technology, the approach used to embrace the AI technology is ineffective and even dysfunctional. First, it is patterned after the old e-government-era paradigm and assumes that AI is simply the extension of the e-age. Second, it is use-case-centric where departments and agencies are developing point solutions and applications as one-off solutions without them being part of some broader strategic framework. Third, while governments—even of large countries—have launched webpages and organized conferences on the AI revolution, no formal body of knowledge, frameworks, or models exist on how to develop a strategic plan for an entire country. Many of those efforts are superficial or too tactical. This chapter develops the first such strategic model. Finally, while government executives want to take an ownership role in leading the transformation, they just don't know how, and this chapter helps them to develop that perspective.

First, a Primer on Neuralization

AI, unlike all previous innovations made by humans, is unique. It is the automation of total work performed by humans—that is, automation of both cognitive and physical elements of work. On the physical end of the work domain, we are familiar with the potential of cars, airplanes, boats, submarines, and so on. They enable humans to reach remarkable physical capability that is far beyond the physiological capability of a human. A similar impact or scaling on the cognitive side implies a supercharged human brain. While the physical automation can be compared to muscular or structural elements of a human, cognitive capabilities are like the neural system that controls human progress throughout the lifetime of a human individual and on a collective basis guides the course of the human civilization. The nervous system helps solve problems; provides learning on how to deal with the surrounding environment, survive, create, develop goals; and many other things that are uniquely human.