It was a Sunday evening. The sky was quiet, the chai was hot, and the monsoon breeze carried just the right amount of calm.
I had no plans beyond my veranda chair and a slow scroll through headlines. But then I stumbled upon it the freshly approved National Artificial Intelligence Policy of Pakistan. It felt monumental. Finally, I thought. We’re joining the race.
I printed it, took my notepad, and began reading. Two hours later, I was still seated. But this time, not calm. Conflicted.
Not disappointed. Not angry. Just curious. Because something about it reminded me of stories I’d read in my youth. The kind where the pieces of the puzzle are all there, but never quite aligned.
So let me tell you a story not of failure, but of unfinished brilliance.
This article is not written to criticize, but to contribute. As Chair of AAAI Pakistan, I feel a deep responsibility to highlight the areas where we can improve not to point fingers, but to offer direction. Our goal is to strengthen what’s been started and build an AI future that truly serves every citizen.
A Global Game of Chess That Started Years Ago
Artificial Intelligence isn’t science fiction anymore. It’s policy. It’s business. It’s military. It’s survival.
And while we in Pakistan were gathering drafts and forming task forces, others had already begun to build cathedrals of computation.
Meanwhile, Pakistan…
We approved our first national AI policy in July 2025 eight years after China, seven after India, five after Bangladesh.
Again, late is not always wrong. But late and shallow? That’s a mystery I can’t ignore.
What the Policy Promises (And It Does Promise a Lot)
Pakistan’s AI policy is built on four foundational pillars:
It plans to:
The ambition is bold. And rightly so. Pakistan’s youth deserve a future in AI. But the moment I finished reading the 40+ pages, I knew something was off.
It’s like building a beautiful railway without buying the train engines.
What’s Missing – Not Just in Bullet Points, but in Spirit
Let’s talk not like critics, but as Pakistanis.
This policy, while well worded, leaves crucial operational and ethical gaps:
1. Legal Ambiguity: The AI Directorate is announced but where is its mandate? Can it regulate? Fine violators? Implement bans? Without parliamentary backing or a charter, it’s an office, not an authority.
2. Ethical Vagueness: Terms like “responsible AI” and “human-centered design” are repeated, but where is the teeth? No ISO 42001 alignment. No redress systems. No binding audits.
3. Risk Blindness: The policy makes no distinction between low-risk AI (like predictive typing) and high-risk AI (like biometric surveillance). There’s no mention of algorithmic bias, fairness matrices, or tiered deployment models.
4. Weak Data Privacy Links: Pakistan already has a Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), but there’s no direct tie-in to AI profiling, consent systems, or algorithmic decision-making. AI could easily bypass human dignity without a trace.
5. No Timeline or KPIs: How will we track if 1 million people are trained? Or if 50,000 civic projects are real? No deliverables. No review boards. Just hope.
6. Global Isolation: Pakistan is not a GPAI member. Nor do we have AI trade partnerships with Singapore, UK, or UAE. Without international visibility, we risk becoming a local player in a global game.
7. Lack of Compute Infrastructure: Training a million youth is great. But where are the servers? GPUs? Data lakes? Will they build on ChatGPT APIs forever, or build our own Urdu LLMs?
8. Startup Blind Spot: No sandbox fund. No VC-friendly policies. No AI-specific startup accelerators. In a country where youth are launching AI tools from their bedrooms, this is a missed opportunity.
Let’s Talk About What’s Good Too
Now, let me not be unfair. The policy does have promising seeds:
But the issue isn’t intent. It’s execution. Accountability. And clarity.
As Chair of AAAI Pakistan, I Must Speak Clearly
In the past year alone, I’ve helped advise AI roadmap discussions in Thailand, UAE, and Malaysia. I’ve hosted roundtables with global experts on AI ethics, surveillance risks, and startup incubation.
At AAAI Pakistan, our mission is not just academia it is action.
We’ve:
And we’re ready to help Pakistan’s government too.
Here’s what I would strongly recommend:
As a global AI institution, AAAI is committed to helping Pakistan align with the principles and expertise needed to join GPAI
Pakistan does not lack talent. It lacks unified, regulated, and structured execution.
And that’s where we must act not in panic, but with purpose.
Why This Matters to Every Citizen
This isn’t a policy just for engineers or data scientists. This is about:
It’s about trust in the invisible decisions being made for you. That’s why a good AI policy must not just sound smart it must be human-first.
The Final Word: Let’s Finish the Story
Pakistan is not behind in spirit. It is ahead in ambition. But ambition needs a compass.
This policy draft is a strong prologue. But we now need a proper first chapter with laws, institutions, experiments, and yes, a little humility to ask for help.
AAAI Pakistan is ready to help. We are ready to convene, contribute, and construct the bridges between government, industry, and global leadership.
Let’s not wait another year. Let’s not let another opportunity slip through. Let’s give our people not just hope but the tools, laws, and trust to lead this era.
Pakistan deserves not just AI. It deserves accountable intelligence.
