Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a central driver of economic transformation and global competition, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in its “Science, Technology and Innovation Outlook 2025: Driving Change in a Shifting Landscape.” The report, approved in September 2025, underscores that governments must overhaul science and innovation policies to manage both the opportunities and disruptions posed by rapid AI advances.
The OECD warns that emerging technologies — particularly AI, biotechnology, and quantum computing — are converging in ways that will reshape innovation systems and economic power structures. Artificial intelligence is no longer just an enabling tool but a catalyst for cross-sectoral innovation, from synthetic biology and neurotechnology to earth observation and materials science. The report calls for “granular, mission-oriented” policymaking to ensure these advances deliver equitable benefits and align with broader sustainability and security goals.
A major theme is how AI’s rapid integration into scientific and industrial ecosystems demands new governance models. The OECD notes that AI systems now accelerate molecular design, generate real-time policy data, and assist in crisis forecasting, creating both efficiency gains and governance challenges. “Artificial intelligence is enabling protein design to create molecules with novel properties,” the Outlook states, highlighting the fusion of generative AI with life sciences to support personalized medicine and mental health treatments.
However, the report cautions that this “technology convergence” requires oversight to prevent concentration of power in a few countries or firms. The OECD urges member states to invest in shared “convergence spaces” — digital and physical infrastructures for AI collaboration — and to adopt governance frameworks that safeguard transparency, accountability, and cross-border data flows. Without international coordination, it warns, AI-driven innovation risks deepening inequalities and exacerbating geopolitical divides.
The Outlook also highlights the need for governments to balance research openness with national security. As countries compete to dominate AI and other frontier technologies, the OECD observes a growing “securitisation of science.” It recommends that research security measures be “proportionate, precise, and developed in partnership with scientists,” ensuring protection of sensitive data without fragmenting global collaboration.
To keep pace with the speed of AI innovation, the OECD calls for agile policymaking, expanded foresight programs, and greater experimentation with data-driven governance models. It advocates embedding AI literacy in public institutions and using strategic intelligence tools — such as real-time data analytics and simulation models — to anticipate future shocks. Governments that can “learn and adapt as fast as AI evolves,” the report concludes, will be best positioned to steer technological change toward societal benefit.
Ultimately, the OECD’s 2025 Outlook frames artificial intelligence not as a single disruptive technology, but as the connective tissue of a new innovation era — one that will define the competitiveness, resilience, and inclusiveness of national economies in the decade ahead.
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