This research examines the complex and multifaceted impacts of artificial intelligence on policymaking processes and governance structures in contemporary Iran. Entering the era of artificial intelligence, governments face a fundamental dilemma: using this technology to optimize public services and increase efficiency, or using it as a tool to intensify social surveillance and control. In the specific context of Iran, this dilemma takes on additional importance. The main question of the article is how the use of artificial intelligence in the Iranian governance structure affects the balance between administrative-economic efficiency and the intensification of social surveillance and control mechanisms? The hypothesis is that artificial intelligence within the framework of the Iranian political system will act as a “two-layer control technology” rather than as a tool to optimize public policymaking and increase transparency. At the first level, the official discourse emphasizes “smart governance” and efficiency, but at the second and fundamental level, this technology leads to the strengthening of centralized surveillance, the prediction of collective actions and the neutralization of opposition before they occur, and ultimately, the consolidation of existing power structures. This article argues that the application of AI in areas such as resource management, the digital economy and urban security is inextricably linked to its potential to create predictive social ranking systems and policing, formulating a new model of “digital authoritarianism”.