This paper argues for the strategic treatment of artificial intelligence as a key industry within broader industrial policy framework of Pakistan, underscoring the importance of aligning it with national goals such as economic resilience and preservation of autonomy. The paper starts with defining industrial policy as a set of targeted government interventions to shape specific sectors for strategic outcomes and argues for its application to AI in Pakistan due to its huge potential, the risks of unregulated adoption, and prevailing market inefficiencies. The paper conceptualizes AI as a layered ecosystem, comprising foundational infrastructure, core computing, development platforms, and service and product layers, supported by education, government policy, and research and development. The analysis highlights that AI sector of Pakistan is predominantly service oriented, with limited product innovation and dependence on foreign technologies, posing risks to economic independence, national security, and employment. To address these challenges, the paper recommends educational reforms, support for local AI product development, initiatives for indigenous cloud and hardware capabilities, and public-private collaborations on foundational models. Additionally, it advocates for public procurement policies and infrastructure incentives to foster local solutions and reduce reliance on foreign providers. This strategy aims to position Pakistan as a competitive, autonomous player in the global AI ecosystem.

翻译：本文主张将人工智能作为关键产业纳入巴基斯坦更广泛的产业政策框架进行战略部署，强调其与国家目标（如经济韧性与自主权维护）协调一致的重要性。文章首先将产业政策定义为政府为实现战略成果而针对特定领域实施的一系列定向干预措施，并基于人工智能的巨大潜力、无监管应用的风险以及当前市场效率低下等现实，论证了在巴基斯坦实施人工智能产业政策的必要性。本文将人工智能概念化为一个分层生态系统，包含基础架构层、核心计算层、开发平台层以及服务与产品层，并由教育体系、政府政策及研发活动共同支撑。分析指出，巴基斯坦人工智能产业目前以服务导向为主，产品创新能力薄弱且高度依赖外国技术，这对经济独立性、国家安全和就业构成了潜在风险。为应对这些挑战，本文建议推行教育改革、扶持本土人工智能产品研发、启动自主云服务与硬件能力建设项目，并通过公私合作开发基础模型。此外，文章主张通过公共采购政策与基础设施激励措施培育本土解决方案，降低对外国供应商的依赖。该战略旨在推动巴基斯坦成为全球人工智能生态系统中具有竞争力与自主性的重要参与者。