Open Letter to AI Leaders

To the CEOs and CTOs of Google, Meta, OpenAI, Microsoft, Amazon and other global AI enterprises.

For more than five decades my research has been dedicated to a single mission: to establish knowledge — not data — as the foundation of human progress. Today, as AI reaches unprecedented heights, I urge you to recognise the limitations of data-centric models and engage with the Knowledge Industrial Revolution.

1. The Journey

1970s to 1980s — foundations of knowledge economics

I began teaching economics in 1970. By 1975 I had initiated a deep study of knowledge as a resource and a product. In 1981 I published on the economics of knowledge in the United Kingdom and the United States, applying economic principles to knowledge as wealth. In 1985 the USSR Academy of Sciences published my two theories of knowledge consumption and production in eight languages.

1980s to 2000s — information systems, AI and the thinking computer

I advanced research in information systems, IT and Artificial Intelligence. In 2005, recognising the inherent limitations of data-centric IT and AI, I introduced Knowmatics — the mathematics, cybernetics and engineering of knowledge. Knowmatics laid the foundation for the Knowledge Industry, enabling mass production, delivery and consumption of customised, value-added knowledge modules.

2010s — Dynamic Knowledge Banks

In 2010 I developed Dynamic Knowledge Banks as the core infrastructure of the Knowledge Industry, enabling scalable, systematic organisation and distribution of knowledge, and transforming it into a productive industrial resource.

2020s — integration of AI and Natural Intelligence

More recently I have built systems for integrating Artificial Intelligence with Natural Intelligence, creating Augmented Natural Intelligence and distributed Knowledge Factories. Anticipating an AI bubble and its correction, I designed frameworks to integrate human elements — ethics, morality, care and human vitality — into AI systems, so they remain aligned with human dignity and values.

2. The Work Itself

• Knowmatics — engineering of knowledge beyond data.
• Dynamic Knowledge Banks — industrial-scale knowledge infrastructure.
• AI–NI integration systems — Augmented Natural Intelligence and distributed Knowledge Factories.
• Human-centric AI frameworks — embedding ethics, morality and human vitality into AI.

3. The Vision

The next leap in human progress will not come from data-centric AI alone. It will come from a knowledge-centric paradigm — a Knowledge Industrial Revolution — that integrates IT and AI into a system powered by brain power, knowledge and Natural Intelligence.

That revolution promises ten-fold human advancement across science, technology and society; dignity, equity and freedom safeguarded by knowledge-driven development; and a knowledge industry large enough to reshape economies and enterprises worldwide.

4. A Call to Action

To the leaders of global AI enterprises: the time has come to move beyond the data bubble. AI enterprises must evolve from data-centric models to knowledge-centric systems, with human values at their core.

This is not merely an opportunity. It is a necessity for sustainable progress, ethical innovation and global equity.