President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on April 27 that the world is undergoing a "sharp transformation" under the leadership of advanced technology and artificial intelligence, adding that governments must manage it responsibly.
"The world is experiencing a sharp transformation led by technology and artificial intelligence... It is not possible to stop this wave of change. It is in our hands to manage change in a healthy way. This is one of the primary duties of decision-makers," Erdoğan said at an OECD summit at Istanbul’s Haliç Congress Center.
The president said traditional assumptions in employment were already being disrupted.
"Production processes are changing in parallel with technological development, and new job fields are emerging," he said, emphasizing that the factor that will determine the success of countries will be human skills.
“International research shows that in most OECD countries the working-age population is decreasing. In some sectors, while labor demand is inevitably declining, there are also difficulties in finding personnel. All economies, including ours, are experiencing this.”
He warned that advances in robotics and artificial intelligence could further reshape global production systems, citing projections of a rapidly expanding market.
“The global robotics market, currently around $100 billion, is expected to grow into a $25 trillion market by 2050,” he said. “How to manage a situation in which robots execute instructions given by artificial intelligence and there is no human element in production processes remains a major question before us.”
Erdoğan said education systems must also be reshaped, arguing that knowledge alone is no longer sufficient without the ability to adapt and process information.
“We are aware that knowledge is one of the greatest sources of power for a country, a company or an individual,” he said. “Outdated knowledge becomes a burden for its holder... Having knowledge is as important as processing it and adapting it to new situations.”
He also pointed to what he described as strengths in Turkish society, including family structures and social solidarity.
“Our family ties are still strong and our culture of solidarity provides us with an important advantage,” he said. “While strengthening the family institution, we are also taking care not to leave anyone out with one of the most comprehensive social security systems in the world.”
Erdoğan also cited progress in labor policies, saying female workforce participation had risen significantly.
“We increased women’s participation in the workforce to 34.7 percent,” he said, adding that maternity leave for working mothers had been extended to 24 weeks. “Our goal is to bring 3 million young people into employment in the next three years,” he said.
Before the summit, the president met OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann.
