The existence of civilized humankind fundamentally serves as a road map for societal evolution. Within this road map, it is imperative to acknowledge that among all creatures on Earth, humans stand alone in their dual capacity to utilize fire and invent tools and machines. This invaluable capability and achievement form the bedrock of our civilization. The act of cooking food and the invention of tools and machinery to process natural resources such as plants, fruits and agricultural products have significantly contributed to the development of the human brain. The expanding human intellect, coupled with continual innovation and discovery, perpetually reshapes civilization, ensuring its sustainability and adaptability to change.
Humanity has developed fire in such a way that it has enabled us to explore space. However, the increased military power of humanity has also brought along with it nuclear weapons. Returning to the beginning of civilized life, the first societal model is the hunter-gatherer society period. During this period, humanity had not yet transitioned to a settled way of life; instead, groups of animals constantly moved together, gathering whatever they found in nature and hunting animals to meet their needs. Therefore, the transition to an agricultural society is one of the most crucial turning points and revolutionary changes in human civilization. Both the hunter-gatherer society period and the agricultural society period were fueled by fire. Humanity has used fire to keep warm, cook and protect themselves from predatory animals and other rival groups.
With the Industrial Revolution in 1750, humanity transitioned to the industrial society in civilization. This period marks a time when humanity made significant inventions toward mechanization. Throughout a certain phase of this period, fire remained an important element for humanity. To obtain fire, first coal, then oil became the fuel of the industrial society. While obtaining energy through these methods was a significant development, it was also a polluting solution for the environment. Therefore, the invention of electricity and humanity's shift to meeting basic needs such as heating and cooking with electricity, as well as operating machines with electricity, represent another revolutionary change. Producing electricity not with coal or oil, but with nuclear power, is also an important stage of this revolutionary transformation. The intense period of invention and revolutionary transformation of the industrial society has led humanity to the fourth stage, the information society.
The fuel of the information society era is electricity, used to power electronic circuits and devices. Thanks to semiconductors, chips and electronic circuits, humanity has experienced an electronic revolution. This process has propelled humanity into a new era known today as the "fifth-generation society" and defined as the "age of intelligence."
The fuel of the current age of intelligence and fifth-generation society is now data. This era marks the closure of the fossil fuel age, with electricity – an essential component of civilized life – being entirely supplied by clean and renewable energy sources. It signifies a transition to a "100% electric era" in all modes of transportation and every aspect of life. Hence, data has evolved into an essential component across all facets of civilized existence. The fifth-generation society signifies a phase primarily reliant on profound data analysis and mining, augmented by artificial intelligence to craft limitless problem-solving solutions. As we enter the "Century of Türkiye," the nation's progress will hinge on the transformation of data into the fuel driving the era of intelligence.
