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For some time now, artificial intelligence (AI) has been receiving unprecedented attention. Why is this? Because it is making a genuine leap forward as a combined result of four factors: the rapid advance in communications that sends all forms of expression hurtling across the planet at the speed of light, computing power (now measured in quadrillions of operations per second), the explosion of available data, and the progress of machine learning. Hence, as André-Yves Portnoff and Jean-François Soupizet argue, a whole new ecosystem is emerging.What might the future applications of AI be? It already has countless possible uses, ranging from the milking of goats, banking services, autonomous vehicles, digital marketing, and smart cities to health care and sabotage…. Some experts who subscribe to the “technological singularity” theory even believe that AI could take over the planet, an assertion staunchly contested here by our authors who do, however, stress how much the division of roles between humans and machines needs to be rethought, as does the relationship between them. They also point out, incidentally, that the spread of AI within companies has not gone as far as all that, since this would involve profound changes in forms of organization and management—in short, a cultural revolution, and culture does not move at the same pace as technological advancement! Turning to the question of the players involved, they stress the conflict between the new entrants (the American and Chinese internet giants) and traditional companies, together with states whose sovereignty is seriously impaired as a result; but these latter may discover that AI affords them the means to restore their power, for better or for worse, in years to come.Drawing on a foresight analysis carried out for the members of the Futuribles International association, in this article André-Yves Portnoff and Jean-François Soupizet venture to outline a number of possible futures. These are not scenarios as such, but contrasting models. They include the “privatized digital panopticon,” characterized by the supremacy of the digital giants; the “state-controlled digital panopticon,” which would see a Chinese-style political regime and the IT giants coming together to serve their own shared interests; the “balanced long-termist” model; and that of “digital crime.” In outlining these models, the authors show once again how technologies are double-edged and how it is important that we—particularly us Europeans—take responsibility when choices are being made that will undoubtedly shape the future for many years to come.Hugues de Jouvenel, editor-in-chief of Futuribles.