?
Scientific management culture in the age of ai: balancing innovation, ecology, and strategic foresight
In the era of rapid digital transformation and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, a paradox arises: despite the unprecedented growth of data volumes, the quality of strategic management decisions often declines. This article aims to present the results of a study examining the phenomenon of the "extrapolation trap"—a cognitive distortion of modern management culture in which linear financial growth trends in the form of GDP are mechanically projected into the future, ignoring the nonlinear dynamics of physical systems and the laws of thermodynamics. It also substantiates the need to transition to a new paradigm of "Scientific Management Culture," based on multicriteria data analysis and the verification of economic strategies using the fundamental laws of conservation of power. The methodological basis of this study is a method for analysing changes in the power of a socio-economic system, allowing development indicators to be translated into an invariant physical coordinate system (watts). Acomparative analysis of long-term trends in the United States in1960–2021 and the Baltic region in 1990–2019 reveals a profound divergence between declared economic growth and stagnation in actual physical energy consumption. It is shown that management decisions focused solely on financial metrics mask the loss of viability of complex systems, while digital transformation without considering the energy base risks becoming a tool for accelerating entropy. In conclusion, a "Triplex" model of multi-criteria decision-making is proposed, requiring the simultaneous assessment of energy security, technological efficiency, and the social utility of innovations. It is concluded that AI should not be used to generate virtual value, but rather to monitor and optimize useful power flows, ensuring a balance between technological progress and the physical sustainability of the biosphere.