From early cars to generative AI, latest technologies are creating demand for specialty materials

Generative artificial intelligence has develop into widely accepted as a tool to extend productivity. But the technology is way from mature. Large language models evolve quickly from one generation to the subsequentand experts can only speculate about how AI will impact the workforce and folks's each day lives.

As Materials scientistI’m thinking about how materials and the technologies derived from them influence society. AI is an example of a technology that’s driving global change – particularly through demand for materials and rare minerals.

But before AI developed to its current level, two other technologies exemplified the method created by the demand for specialised materials: cars and smartphones.

Often, the mass adoption of a brand new invention changes human behavior, resulting in latest technologies and infrastructure based on the invention. These latest technologies and infrastructures in turn require latest or improved materials – and these often include latest materials critical minerals: those minerals which might be each essential to the technology and strain the availability chain.

The unequal distribution The use of those minerals provides leverage to the nations that produce them. The resulting shifts in power are straining geopolitical relations and driving the search for brand new mineral resources. New technologies are boosting the mining industry.

The automotive and the event of the suburbs

At the start of the twentieth century only 5 out of 1,000 People owned a automotive whose annual production was about a number of thousand. Workers commuted on foot or by tram. Within a Two mile radiusMany people had the whole lot they needed: from food to hardware, from school to church, and from shoemaker to doctor.

Then, in 1913, Henry Ford modified the industry by inventing the assembly line. Now a middle-class family could afford a automotive: mass production brought the worth of the Model T down from $850 in 1908 $360 in 1916. While the Great Depression dampened widespread acceptance of the automotive, sales began to rise again after the tip of World War II.

With cars got here more mobility and plenty of people moved further away from work. In the Forties and Nineteen Fifties, a robust highway lobby emerged, which, amongst other things, Oil, automotive and construction interests promoted federal highway and transportation policies, which increased dependence on the car. These measures helped change the landscape: houses became further apart and further away from urban centers where many individuals worked. Until the Nineteen SixtiesTwo-thirds of American employees commuted by automotive, and the typical commute distance had increased to 10 miles.

Public policy and investment favored the suburbs, which meant less Investments in inner cities. The resulting decay made living within the inner cities of many cities undesirable and sparked resentment Urban renewal projects.

Long commutes increased pollution and increased costs, resulting in a requirement for lighter, more fuel-efficient cars. However, higher materials were required to construct them.

In 1970, the complete frame and body of a automotive was created from one form of steel, but in 2017 a vehicle was created from ten different, highly specialized steels light form. Each steel accommodates different chemical elements reminiscent of molybdenum and vanadium, that are only mined in a number of countries.

While the auto supply chain was mostly domestically until the Seventiesthe automotive industry today relies heavily on imports. This dependence has led to tensions with international trading partners, as reflected in higher numbers Tariffs on steel.

The mobile phone and American life

The mobile phone represents one other example of a technology that creates demand for minerals and impacts foreign policy. In 1983 Motorola released the DynaTACthe primary business mobile phone. It was heavy, expensive, and its battery only lasted half an hour, so few people had one. Then in 1996 Motorola introduced the flip phonewhich was cheaper, lighter and more convenient to make use of. The flip phone initiated the mass adoption of cell phones. However, it was still only a phone: unlike today's smartphones, it could only send and receive calls and text messages.

In 2007 Apple has redefined communication with the iPhone, invent the touchscreen and integration of a web navigator. The phone became a digital hub for navigating, finding information, and constructing a web based social identity. Before smartphones, cell phones supplemented each day life. Now structure it.

In 2000, fewer than half of American adults owned a mobile phone, and just about all of them used them only sporadically. In 2024, 98% of Americans over 18 reported owning a mobile phone or more 90% owned a smartphone.

Without their smartphone, most individuals cannot perform their each day tasks. Many individuals now suffer from nomophobia: You feel anxious with out a mobile phone.

Um three quarters of all stable elements are represented within the components of each smartphone. These elements are required for highly specialized materials that enable touchscreens, displays, batteries, speakers, microphones and cameras. Many of these things are essential to no less than one function and have an unreliable supply chain. what makes them critical.

Critical Materials and AI

Critical materials give influence to countries which have a monopoly on their mining and processing. For example, China has gained power through its monopoly Rare earth elements. In April 2025, China responded to the US tariffs has stopped exporting rare earth magnetsutilized in cell phones. The resulting geopolitical tensions exhibit the facility inherent in command of critical minerals.

The mass adoption of AI technology is prone to transform human behavior and create latest technologies, industries, and infrastructure on which the U.S. economy will depend. All of those technologies would require more optimized and specialized materials and create latest material dependencies.

By exacerbating material dependencies, AI could influence geopolitical relations and reorganize global power.

America has wealthy reserves accommodates many essential minerals, but extracting these minerals presents challenges. Factors reminiscent of slow and expensive approvals, public opposition, environmental concerns, high capital costs and inadequate labor can prevent mining corporations from accessing these resources. The mass adoption of AI is already increasing pressure to beat these aspects and increase responsibility domestic mining.

While the journey from innovation to material dependency has spanned a century for cars and a number of other a long time for cell phones, the rapid evolution of huge language models suggests that the size of AI will probably be measured in years. The heat is already here.