National AI plan promises to rewrite rules of innovation

By News Centre

Turkiye is steadily progressing toward its strategic objectives in the rapidly evolving and transformative field of artificial intelligence (AI), with this groundbreaking technology increasingly woven into the fabric of everyday life across the country.

Turkiye has significantly broadened its ambitions for AI—a sector recognized as one of the fastest-growing and most impactful technologies worldwide—within the comprehensive framework of the “National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2021–2025.” Alongside this, a new and detailed action plan covering the years 2024 and 2025 has been meticulously developed. This plan aims to accelerate and expand AI applications across both the public sector and private enterprises, ensuring a more widespread and effective integration of AI technologies throughout the nation.

The core aims and objectives of this forward-thinking strategy include training a highly qualified and skilled workforce specializing in artificial intelligence, substantially enhancing the research and innovation ecosystem, expanding and modernizing the nation’s technical infrastructure, fostering deeper and more robust international cooperation, and driving a comprehensive transformation of the economic structure by leveraging AI innovations.

Already, artificial intelligence technologies have begun to permeate and enhance various aspects of daily life, with tangible and practical applications in diverse fields such as healthcare, education, agriculture, law, sports, and finance. The strategy envisions the widespread use of AI in critical areas, including the accurate diagnosis of diseases, the effective prevention of tax evasion, the optimal distribution and direction of social assistance, and the early identification of students who may be at risk of dropping out of school, thereby enabling timely intervention.

A particularly significant priority within this strategic framework is the development of a localized and nationally focused “Turkish Great Language Model.” In addition, artificial intelligence algorithms are currently being deployed for the detailed analysis and classification of legal documents, within the scope of the ambitious “National Court Network Project,” thus streamlining and modernizing judicial processes across the country.

Looking forward to 2025, the “Ecosystem Challenge,” led by the TÜB?TAK Artificial Intelligence Institute, highlights several key priority areas: smart production systems, intelligent agriculture and animal husbandry, innovative financial technologies, climate change mitigation, and cutting-edge smart education technologies.

In addition to these technological advances, educational initiatives in Turkiye are rapidly expanding. Starting in 2025, more than 70 artificial intelligence-based academic programs will be offered nationwide, and the number of universities currently engaged in AI research and teaching—now totaling 20—is set to increase further, strengthening Turkiye’s human capital in this crucial sector.

Finally, Turkiye is preparing to revise and update its national artificial intelligence strategy for the period following 2026. This revision process will be informed by comprehensive analyses conducted jointly by the Ministry of Industry and Technology and TÜB?TAK, ensuring that new goals and strategic measures reflect the rapidly evolving technological landscape.

The artificial intelligence technology market is projected to reach an impressive $1.85 billion by 2030, with this development expected to affect approximately 300 million full-time jobs worldwide—highlighting AI’s profound and far-reaching impact on the future of work, the economy, and society as a whole.