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Breaking Down Silos: How Interdisciplinary Thinking Will Shape AI’s Future – – In order to create a technology independent country
By Jefferies Jiang
In a recent speech at a global AI summit, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emphasized that artificial intelligence shouldn’t just serve “ultra-wealthy oligarchs.” His message, while political, points to a deeper structural issue: AI – and technological progress more broadly – tends to evolve within isolated silos.
The Problem: Siloed Development Stifles Innovation
Today, AI development is largely concentrated in elite tech companies and research institutions, creating a world where:
• Industries build AI solutions in isolation from one another.
• Languages and cultures create barriers to knowledge-sharing.
• Workplace norms like rigid dress codes reinforce divisions between technical and non-technical fields.
These silos slow innovation by limiting collaboration and preventing the cross-pollination of ideas. To build AI that benefits everyone, we need to break these barriers – not just between industry sectors, but also across education, culture, and policy.
- Interdisciplinary Collaboration: AI Needs More Than Just Engineers
The best AI breakthroughs often come not from tech alone, but from interdisciplinary partnerships. Consider:
