Authors : Mohamed Ali Adam Ishaiger

Volume/Issue : Volume 11 - 2026, Issue 2 - February

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/74turcm8

Scribd : https://tinyurl.com/4r5btxzc

DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/26feb167

Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.

Abstract : This article conceptualizes the contemporary rise of artificial intelligence (AI) as a long-term socio-technical transformation embedded within recurring historical cycles of authority and legitimacy. Drawing on social studies of technology, political economy, and comparative social theory, specifically classical Islamic historiography, it argues that AI has emerged as a new social institution exercising interpretive authority. By 2026, empirical evidence from global AI investment flows and "Sovereign AI" initiatives in the Global South demonstrates that governance is moving away from claims of universal technological convergence toward a pluralistic global order. The article reframes this fragmentation as a historically consistent response to over-centralization. Understanding AI through this cyclical lens offers a more realistic foundation for sustainable governance in a post-universal digital landscape.

Keywords : Artificial Intelligence, Algorithmic Governance, Ibn Khaldūn, Epistemic Authority, Sovereign AI, Digital Reformation, 2026 Technological Trends.

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