AI, Power, and the New Global Order with Nina Schick

What if AI becomes the most consequential technology in human history? On this episode of Digital Disruption, we’re joined by Nina Schick, geopolitical analyst and one of the world’s leading voices on AI. Nina Schick is a globally recognized expert on AI, geopolitics, and power. She was among the first to forecast the societal impact of AI-generated content and now leads the conversation on Industrial Intelligence, the idea that AI is not just software, but a geopolitical and industrial transformation. Nina sits down with Geoff to unpack how intelligence itself is becoming a geopolitical weapon. She explains why we are entering the Age of Intelligence, where non-biological intelligence may soon rival or surpass human intelligence, reshaping economics, warfare, democracy, labor, and global power structures This conversation goes far beyond AI tools and chatbots. We explore: Why AGI may arrive sooner than expected How AI infrastructure and scaling laws are reshaping global power What AI means for warfare, democracy, and national security How near-zero-cost intelligence will transform work and leadership In this episode: 00:00 Intro 01:33 The AI scaling laws accelerating toward AGI 03:09 Excitement vs fear: how disruptive will AI really be? 05:16 Deepfakes, information warfare, and early AI misuse 06:58 AI’s true killer app: scientific discovery 08:49 Intelligence as a utility and the speed of global disruption 10:38 Why AI is becoming the biggest political issue of our time 12:12 Concentration of power and the rise of AI monopolies 14:33 Technology, history, and why power always follows innovation 16:18AI infrastructure, hyperscalers, and trillion-dollar CapEx 19:05 AI as hard power and American technological dominance 21:15 NATO, national security, and autonomous warfare 23:55 The end of American hegemony and the rise of hard power politics 27:36 Democracy vs authoritarianism in the AI race 29:48 Why trivial consumer AI is a strategic failure 35:52 What AI deployment really means for businesses 39:13 The myth of AI tools vs intelligence as a capability 41:41 Will AI actually cause mass layoffs? 46:32 Asset ownership in a world of cheap intelligence 50:24 How AI empowers individuals and emerging economies 52:51 The most important skills for the AI age 55:38 Why being human matters more than ever 56:41 Resilience, risk, and the future Connect with Nina: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ninaschick/ X: https://x.com/NinaDSchick Visit our website: https://www.infotech.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=podcast Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@InfoTechRG