This handbook provides a comprehensive and interdisciplinary examination of how artificial intelligence is transforming diplomacy, governance and the wider structures of society. Bringing together an international group of leading scholars, it maps the strategic, institutional, cultural, educational, economic and security implications of AI, offering an integrated framework for understanding technological change in the emerging technopolar world.

The volume’s scope extends across both international and domestic spheres, revealing how AI redistributes global power, reshapes international order, alters diplomatic practice, and redefines major domains of social life including education, employment, media ecosystems, public discourse, cultural identity and national resilience. These themes are increasingly significant because AI now functions as a structuring force in world politics and societal transformation, influencing everything from international law and economic statecraft to learning systems, public opinion formation, crisis diplomacy and collective security.

Although scholarship on AI has expanded rapidly, there remains no single handbook that synthesizes these diverse developments within a coherent, diplomacy and society centred analytical framework. The core problem this handbook addresses is the lack of an authoritative reference that captures AI’s simultaneous impact on global governance, diplomatic agency and societal evolution. Existing studies tend to illuminate individual sectors or policy challenges, yet a consolidated resource that brings together these intersecting transformations has been missing.

This handbook fills that gap by providing conceptual foundations, comparative perspectives and policy-oriented insights that connect technological innovation with social change and international relations. The volume is designed for an international readership of scholars, graduate students, diplomats, policymakers, educators and professionals seeking a rigorous, interdisciplinary reference on how artificial intelligence is reshaping diplomacy and society.

Prof. Dr. Erman Akıllı is a faculty member in the Department of International Relations at Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University. His research and teaching focus on artificial intelligence in foreign policy, digital diplomacy, the Turkic World, the Africa region, and public diplomacy along with its sub-branches. Over the course of his career, he has published articles in peer-reviewed journals indexed in SSCI and WoS, and has contributed as both author and editor to volumes released by leading academic publishers including Palgrave Macmillan, Routledge, and Springer Nature. His most recent and internationally acclaimed monograph, Cognitive Diplomacy and Digital Autonomy: Statecraft in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2025. In addition to his scholarly work, he serves as Assistant Editor of Insight Turkey, a journal published by the SETA Foundation, where he continues to contribute to debates on international affairs, diplomacy, and emerging technologies.