<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div> I don’t quite resonate with the article’s ending, but I think the rest is thought-provoking, and might interest many LCTG members.</div><div><br></div><div>Copied/pasted to avoid paywall issues you otherwise might encounter.</div><div><br></div><div> — Mike Alexander</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><header class="css-14oh18p e3rgvcb0" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="css-hy7cq4" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="css-wnw0gf" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="css-1sojcmr ehdk2mb0" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><h1 id="link-2d10a975" class="css-bguj5n e1h9rw200" data-testid="headline" style="margin: 0px 20px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-cheltenham-cond, nyt-cheltenham, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 3.4375rem; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 3.75rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-content-primary,#121212); position: relative; width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">The True Threat of Artificial Intelligence</h1></div></div></div></header><div class="css-1wx1auc e89cr9k1" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; 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vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block;">Evgeny Morozov</span></p><div id="enhanced-byline" class="css-8atqhb" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 374px;"><p class="css-1fovwrw e1wtpvyy0" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.1875rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636);">Mr. Morozov is the author of “To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism” and the host of the forthcoming podcast “<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://the-santiago-boys.com/" title="" class="css-13m58p7" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-color: var(--color-content-quaternary,#727272);">The Santiago Boys</a>.”</p></div></div></div><div data-testid="reading-time-module" class="css-8atqhb" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 374px;"><ul class="css-1cgskve epjyd6m3" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; display: flex; -webkit-box-pack: justify; justify-content: space-between; -webkit-box-align: center; flex-wrap: nowrap; align-items: flex-end;"><li class="css-ccw2r3 epjyd6m2" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 1rem 0px 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; flex-shrink: 1; list-style: none;"><time class="css-1z1nqv e16638kd0" datetime="2023-06-30T05:00:38-04:00" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.8125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636);">June 30, 2023</time></li></ul></div></div></div><section name="articleBody" class="meteredContent css-1r7ky0e" style="font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; flex-direction: column;"><div class="css-53u6y8" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 414px;"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">In May, more than 350 technology executives, researchers and academics signed a <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.safe.ai/statement-on-ai-risk#open-letter" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">statement</a> warning of the existential dangers of artificial intelligence. “Mitigating the risk of extinction from A.I. should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war,” the signatories warned.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">This came on the heels of another high-profile <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/29/technology/ai-artificial-intelligence-musk-risks.html" title="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">letter</a>, signed by the likes of Elon Musk and Steve Wozniak, a co-founder of Apple, calling for a six-month moratorium on the development of advanced A.I. systems.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Meanwhile, the Biden administration <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2023/05/23/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-takes-new-steps-to-advance-responsible-artificial-intelligence-research-development-and-deployment/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">has urged</a> responsible A.I. innovation, stating that “in order to seize the opportunities” it offers, we “must first manage its risks.” In Congress, Senator Chuck Schumer <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/21/us/ai-regulation-schumer-congress.html" title="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">called</a> for “first of their kind” listening sessions on the potential and risks of A.I., a crash course of sorts from industry executives, academics, civil rights activists and other stakeholders.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">The mounting anxiety about A.I. isn’t because of the boring but reliable technologies that autocomplete our text messages or direct robot vacuums to dodge obstacles in our living rooms. It is the rise of artificial <span class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">general</span>intelligence, or A.G.I., that worries the experts.</p></div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><div id="story-ad-1-wrapper" class="css-uajuzz" style="margin: 2rem auto; padding: 12px 0px 30px; border-width: 1px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 414px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); 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padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: bottom; min-width: 100%;"></iframe></div></div><div id="after-story-ad-1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; flex-direction: column;"><div class="css-53u6y8" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 414px;"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">A.G.I. doesn’t exist yet, but some believe that the rapidly growing capabilities of OpenAI’s ChatGPT <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/16/technology/microsoft-ai-human-reasoning.html" title="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">suggest</a> its emergence is near. Sam Altman, a co-founder of OpenAI, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://openai.com/blog/planning-for-agi-and-beyond" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">has</a>described it as “systems that are generally smarter than humans.” Building such systems remains a daunting — some say <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.wired.com/story/what-is-artificial-general-intelligence-agi-explained/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">impossible</a> — task. But the benefits appear truly tantalizing.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Imagine Roombas, no longer condemned to vacuuming the floors, that evolve into all-purpose robots, happy to brew morning coffee or fold laundry — without ever being <span class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">programmed</span> to do these things.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Sounds appealing. But should these A.G.I. Roombas get too powerful, their mission to create a spotless utopia might get messy for their dust-spreading human masters. At least we’ve had a good run.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Discussions of A.G.I. are rife with such apocalyptic scenarios. Yet a nascent A.G.I. lobby of academics, investors and entrepreneurs counter that, once made safe, A.G.I. would be a boon to civilization. Mr. Altman, the face of this campaign, embarked on a global tour to <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/07/technology/sam-altman-ai-regulations.html" title="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">charm lawmakers</a>. Earlier this year he <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://openai.com/blog/planning-for-agi-and-beyond" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">wrote</a> that A.G.I. might even turbocharge the economy, boost scientific knowledge and “elevate humanity by increasing abundance.”</p><div id="story-ad-2-wrapper" class="css-f6q96b" style="margin: 2rem auto; padding: 12px 0px 30px; border-width: 1px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; 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font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: black; position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Continue reading the main story</a><div class="ad story-ad-2-wrapper css-rfqw0c" id="story-ad-2" data-google-query-id="CIq6oIXv8P8CFRLaswodGr0LlA" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: 250px; min-height: 250px;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_3__container__" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0pt none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_3" name="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_3" title="3rd party ad content" width="300" height="250" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" role="region" aria-label="Advertisement" tabindex="0" data-load-complete="true" data-google-container-id="3" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: bottom;"></iframe></div></div><div id="after-story-ad-2" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">This is why, for all the hand-wringing, so many smart people in the tech industry are toiling to build this controversial technology: not using it to save the world seems immoral.</p></div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; flex-direction: column;"><div class="css-53u6y8" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 414px;"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">They are beholden to an ideology that views this new technology as inevitable and, in a safe version, as universally beneficial. Its proponents can think of no better alternatives for fixing humanity and expanding its intelligence.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">But this ideology — call it A.G.I.-ism — is mistaken. The real risks of A.G.I. are political and won’t be fixed by taming rebellious robots. The safest of A.G.I.s would not deliver the progressive panacea promised by its lobby. And in presenting its emergence as all but inevitable, A.G.I.-ism distracts from finding better ways to augment intelligence.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;"><span class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Unbeknown to its proponents</span>, A.G.I.-ism is just a bastard child of a much grander ideology, one preaching that, as Margaret Thatcher memorably put it, there is no alternative, not to the market.</p><div id="story-ad-3-wrapper" class="css-uajuzz" style="margin: 2rem auto; padding: 12px 0px 30px; border-width: 1px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 414px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); text-align: center; min-height: 280px;"><div id="story-ad-3-slug" class="css-l9onyx" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.5625rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 0.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); letter-spacing: 0.05rem; text-transform: uppercase;"><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">ADVERTISEMENT</p></div><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/opinion/artificial-intelligence-danger.html#after-story-ad-3" class="css-1ly73wi" style="margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: black; position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Continue reading the main story</a><div class="ad story-ad-3-wrapper css-rfqw0c" id="story-ad-3" data-google-query-id="CLuT7Ifv8P8CFcnJswod5ngFgQ" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: 778px;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_4__container__" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0pt none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: 414px; height: auto;"><iframe frameborder="0" src="https://a1f30f6286461dc4b51d78f2a70a54f8.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html" id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_4" title="3rd party ad content" name="" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="0" height="778" data-is-safeframe="true" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" role="region" aria-label="Advertisement" tabindex="0" data-google-container-id="4" data-load-complete="true" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: bottom; min-width: 100%;"></iframe></div></div><div id="after-story-ad-3" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Rather than breaking capitalism, as Mr. Altman has <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://fortune.com/2023/02/03/openai-sam-altman-chatgpt-break-capitalism/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">hinted</a> it could do, A.G.I. — or at least the rush to build it — is more likely to create a powerful (and much hipper) ally for capitalism’s most destructive creed: neoliberalism.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Fascinated with privatization, competition and free trade, the architects of neoliberalism wanted to dynamize and transform a stagnant and labor-friendly economy through markets and deregulation.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Some of these transformations worked, but they came at an immense cost. Over the years, neoliberalism drew many, many critics, who blamed it for the Great Recession and financial crisis, Trumpism, Brexit and much else.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">It is not surprising, then, that the Biden administration has <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/29/us/politics/joe-biden.html" title="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">distanced</a> itself from the ideology, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/04/27/remarks-by-national-security-advisor-jake-sullivan-on-renewing-american-economic-leadership-at-the-brookings-institution/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">acknowledging</a> that markets sometimes get it wrong. Foundations, think tanks and academics have even dared to <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/16/business/neoliberalism-free-market-research.html" title="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">imagine</a> a post-neoliberal future.</p></div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><div id="story-ad-4-wrapper" class="css-f6q96b" style="margin: 2rem auto; padding: 12px 0px 30px; border-width: 1px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); text-align: center; min-height: 280px;"><div id="story-ad-4-slug" class="css-l9onyx" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.5625rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 0.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); letter-spacing: 0.05rem; text-transform: uppercase;"><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">ADVERTISEMENT</p></div><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/opinion/artificial-intelligence-danger.html#after-story-ad-4" class="css-1ly73wi" style="margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: black; position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Continue reading the main story</a><div class="ad story-ad-4-wrapper css-rfqw0c" id="story-ad-4" data-google-query-id="CJyMjYzv8P8CFe4SiAkdSngJTw" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: 250px; min-height: 250px;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_5__container__" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0pt none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_5" name="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_5" title="3rd party ad content" width="300" height="250" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" role="region" aria-label="Advertisement" tabindex="0" data-load-complete="true" data-google-container-id="5" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: bottom;"></iframe></div></div><div id="after-story-ad-4" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; flex-direction: column;"><div class="css-53u6y8" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 414px;"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Yet neoliberalism is far from dead. Worse, it has found an ally in A.G.I.-ism, which stands to reinforce and replicate its main biases: that private actors outperform public ones (the market bias), that adapting to reality beats transforming it (the adaptation bias<span class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">)</span> and that efficiency trumps social concerns (the efficiency bias).</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">These biases turn the alluring promise behind A.G.I. on its head: Instead of saving the world, the quest to build it will make things only worse. Here is how.</p><h3 class="css-vgpz0b e1gnsphs0" id="link-5c1ccd1b" style="margin: 0px 20px 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">A.G.I. will never overcome the market’s demands for profit.</span></h3><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Remember when Uber, with its cheap rates, was courting cities to serve as their public transportation systems?</p><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">It all began nicely, with Uber promising implausibly cheap rides, courtesy of a future with self-driving cars and minimal labor costs. Deep-pocketed investors loved this vision, even absorbing Uber’s multibillion-dollar losses.</p><div id="story-ad-5-wrapper" class="css-f6q96b" style="margin: 2rem auto; padding: 12px 0px 30px; border-width: 1px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); text-align: center; min-height: 280px;"><div id="story-ad-5-slug" class="css-l9onyx" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.5625rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 0.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); letter-spacing: 0.05rem; text-transform: uppercase;"><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">ADVERTISEMENT</p></div><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/opinion/artificial-intelligence-danger.html#after-story-ad-5" class="css-1ly73wi" style="margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: black; position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Continue reading the main story</a><div class="ad story-ad-5-wrapper css-rfqw0c" id="story-ad-5" data-google-query-id="CNiDhY_v8P8CFWUGiAkdrTIBXg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: 250px; min-height: 250px;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_6__container__" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0pt none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_6" name="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_6" title="3rd party ad content" width="300" height="250" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" role="region" aria-label="Advertisement" tabindex="0" data-load-complete="true" data-google-container-id="6" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: bottom;"></iframe></div></div><div id="after-story-ad-5" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">But when reality <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/technology/farewell-millennial-lifestyle-subsidy.html" title="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">descended</a>, the self-driving cars were still a pipe dream. The investors demanded returns and Uber was forced to <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-29/when-a-town-takes-uber-instead-of-public-transit" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">raise prices</a>. Users that relied on it to replace public buses and trains were left on the sidewalk.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">The neoliberal instinct behind Uber’s business model is that the private sector can do better than the public sector — the market bias.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">It’s not just cities and public transit. <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/11/business/google-ascension-health-data.html" title="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">Hospitals</a>, <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/18/technology/clearview-privacy-facial-recognition.html" title="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">police departments</a> and even the <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/26/technology/anduril-military-palmer-luckey.html" title="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">Pentagon</a>increasingly rely on Silicon Valley to accomplish their missions.</p></div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; flex-direction: column;"><div class="css-53u6y8" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 414px;"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">With A.G.I., this reliance will only deepen, not least because A.G.I. is unbounded in its scope and ambition. No administrative or government services would be immune to its promise of disruption.</p><div id="story-ad-6-wrapper" class="css-f6q96b" style="margin: 2rem auto; padding: 12px 0px 30px; border-width: 1px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); text-align: center; min-height: 280px;"><div id="story-ad-6-slug" class="css-l9onyx" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.5625rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 0.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); letter-spacing: 0.05rem; text-transform: uppercase;"><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">ADVERTISEMENT</p></div><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/opinion/artificial-intelligence-danger.html#after-story-ad-6" class="css-1ly73wi" style="margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: black; position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Continue reading the main story</a><div class="ad story-ad-6-wrapper css-rfqw0c" id="story-ad-6" data-google-query-id="CPqB2JHv8P8CFY3mswod9RUNSQ" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: 250px; min-height: 250px;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_7__container__" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0pt none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; width: 300px; height: 250px;"><iframe frameborder="0" src="https://a1f30f6286461dc4b51d78f2a70a54f8.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html" id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_7" title="3rd party ad content" name="" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" width="300" height="250" data-is-safeframe="true" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation" role="region" aria-label="Advertisement" tabindex="0" data-google-container-id="7" data-load-complete="true" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: bottom;"></iframe></div></div><div id="after-story-ad-6" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Moreover, A.G.I. doesn’t even have to exist to lure them in. This, at any rate, is the lesson of Theranos, a start-up that promised to “solve” health care through a revolutionary blood-testing technology and a former darling of America’s elites. Its victims are real, even if its technology never was.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">After so many Uber- and Theranos-like traumas, we already know what to expect of an A.G.I. rollout. It will consist of two phases. First, the charm offensive of heavily subsidized services. Then the ugly retrenchment, with the overdependent users and agencies shouldering the costs of making them profitable.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">As always, Silicon Valley mavens play down the market’s role. In a recent essay titled “<a class="css-yywogo" href="https://a16z.com/2023/06/06/ai-will-save-the-world/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">Why A.I. Will Save the World</a>,” Marc Andreessen, a prominent tech investor, even proclaims that A.I. “is owned by people and controlled by people, like any other technology.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Only a venture capitalist can traffic in such exquisite euphemisms. Most modern technologies are owned by corporations. And they — not the mythical “people” — will be the ones that will monetize saving the world.</p><div id="story-ad-7-wrapper" class="css-f6q96b" style="margin: 2rem auto; padding: 12px 0px 30px; border-width: 1px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); text-align: center; min-height: 280px;"><div id="story-ad-7-slug" class="css-l9onyx" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.5625rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 0.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); letter-spacing: 0.05rem; text-transform: uppercase;"><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">ADVERTISEMENT</p></div><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/opinion/artificial-intelligence-danger.html#after-story-ad-7" class="css-1ly73wi" style="margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: black; position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Continue reading the main story</a><div class="ad story-ad-7-wrapper css-rfqw0c" id="story-ad-7" data-google-query-id="CIm655Xv8P8CFaMSiAkdP7IHtQ" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: 250px; min-height: 250px;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_8__container__" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0pt none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_8" name="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_8" title="3rd party ad content" width="300" height="250" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" role="region" aria-label="Advertisement" tabindex="0" data-load-complete="true" data-google-container-id="8" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: bottom;"></iframe></div></div><div id="after-story-ad-7" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">And are they really saving it? The record, so far, is poor. Companies like Airbnb and TaskRabbit were welcomed as saviors for the beleaguered <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/14/airbnb-a-solution-to-middle-class-inequality-company-says" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">middle class</a>; Tesla’s electric cars were seen as a <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/08/business/energy-environment/electric-vehicles-climate-bill.html" title="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">remedy</a> to a warming planet. Soylent, the meal-replacement shake, embarked on a <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://edition.cnn.com/2013/12/13/health/soylent-hunger/index.html" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">mission</a> to “solve” global hunger, while Facebook vowed to “<a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/opinion/sunday/evgeny-morozov-facebooks-gateway-drug.html" title="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">solve</a>” connectivity issues in the Global South. None of these companies saved the world.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">A decade ago, I called this <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/03/opinion/sunday/the-perils-of-perfection.html" title="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">solutionism</a>, but “digital neoliberalism” would be just as fitting. This worldview reframes social problems in light of for-profit technological solutions. As a result, concerns that belong in the public domain are reimagined as entrepreneurial opportunities in the marketplace.</p></div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; flex-direction: column;"><div class="css-53u6y8" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 414px;"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">A.G.I.-ism has rekindled this solutionist fervor. Last year, Mr. Altman <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://twitter.com/sama/status/1552356314482937863?lang=en" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">stated</a> that “A.G.I. is probably necessary for humanity to survive” because “our problems seem too big” for us to “solve without better tools.” He’s recently <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://openai.com/blog/planning-for-agi-and-beyond?" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">asserted</a> that A.G.I. will be a catalyst for human flourishing.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">But companies need profits, and such benevolence, especially from unprofitable firms burning investors’ billions, is uncommon. OpenAI, having accepted billions from Microsoft, has <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openais-losses-doubled-to-540-million-as-it-developed-chatgpt" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">contemplated</a> raising another $100 billion to build A.G.I. Those investments will need to be earned back — against the service’s staggering invisible costs. (One <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/06/05/chatgpt-hidden-cost-gpu-compute/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">estimate</a> from February put the expense of operating ChatGPT at $700,000 per day.)</p><div id="story-ad-8-wrapper" class="css-f6q96b" style="margin: 2rem auto; padding: 12px 0px 30px; border-width: 1px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); text-align: center; min-height: 280px;"><div id="story-ad-8-slug" class="css-l9onyx" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.5625rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 0.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); letter-spacing: 0.05rem; text-transform: uppercase;"><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">ADVERTISEMENT</p></div><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/opinion/artificial-intelligence-danger.html#after-story-ad-8" class="css-1ly73wi" style="margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: black; position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Continue reading the main story</a><div class="ad story-ad-8-wrapper css-rfqw0c" id="story-ad-8" data-google-query-id="CLCsjJvv8P8CFVUViAkdcbUAlQ" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: 250px; min-height: 250px;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_9__container__" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0pt none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_9" name="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_9" title="3rd party ad content" width="300" height="250" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" role="region" aria-label="Advertisement" tabindex="0" data-load-complete="true" data-google-container-id="9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: bottom;"></iframe></div></div><div id="after-story-ad-8" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Thus, the ugly retrenchment phase, with aggressive price hikes to make an A.G.I. service profitable, might arrive before “abundance” and “flourishing.” But how many public institutions would mistake fickle markets for affordable technologies and become dependent on OpenAI’s expensive offerings by then?</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">And if you dislike your town outsourcing public transportation to a fragile start-up, would you want it farming out welfare services, waste management and public safety to the possibly even more volatile A.G.I. firms?</p><h3 class="css-vgpz0b e1gnsphs0" id="link-4f1df75c" style="margin: 0px 20px 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">A.G.I. will dull the pain of our thorniest problems without fixing them.</span></h3><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Neoliberalism has a knack for mobilizing technology to make society’s miseries bearable. I recall an innovative tech <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.citytech.org/rebate-offer-helped-cta-red-line-commuters-avoid-wrigley-crowds" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">venture</a>from 2017 that promised to improve commuters’ use of a Chicago subway line. It offered rewards to discourage metro riders from traveling at peak times. Its creators leveraged technology to influence the demand side (the riders), seeing structural changes to the supply side (like raising public transport funding) as too difficult. Tech would help make Chicagoans adapt to the city’s deteriorating infrastructure rather than fixing it in order to meet the public’s needs.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">This is the adaptation bias — the aspiration that, with a technological wand, we can become desensitized to our plight. It’s the product of neoliberalism’s relentless cheerleading for self-reliance and resilience.</p><div id="story-ad-9-wrapper" class="css-f6q96b" style="margin: 2rem auto; padding: 12px 0px 30px; border-width: 1px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); text-align: center; min-height: 280px;"><div id="story-ad-9-slug" class="css-l9onyx" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.5625rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 0.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); letter-spacing: 0.05rem; text-transform: uppercase;"><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">ADVERTISEMENT</p></div><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/opinion/artificial-intelligence-danger.html#after-story-ad-9" class="css-1ly73wi" style="margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: black; position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Continue reading the main story</a><div class="ad story-ad-9-wrapper css-rfqw0c" id="story-ad-9" data-google-query-id="CJ2HpqDv8P8CFQH6swodA80G_A" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: 250px; min-height: 250px;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_10__container__" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0pt none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_10" name="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_10" title="3rd party ad content" width="300" height="250" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" role="region" aria-label="Advertisement" tabindex="0" data-load-complete="true" data-google-container-id="a" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: bottom;"></iframe></div></div><div id="after-story-ad-9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">The message is clear: gear up, enhance your human capital and chart your course like a start-up. And A.G.I.-ism echoes this tune. Bill Gates has <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/The-Age-of-AI-Has-Begun" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">trumpeted</a> that A.I. can “help people everywhere improve their lives.”</p></div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; flex-direction: column;"><div class="css-53u6y8" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 414px;"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">The solutionist feast is only getting started: Whether it’s fighting the next <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-15/how-to-stop-the-next-pandemic-from-happening-ai-big-data-and-vaccines" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">pandemic</a>, the <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.salon.com/2023/05/21/tech-wants-ai-chatbots-to-help-ease-loneliness-experts-are-skeptical/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">loneliness epidemic</a> or <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-04/artificial-intelligence-is-argentina-s-latest-tool-to-combat-inflation" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">inflation</a>, A.I. is already pitched as an all-purpose hammer for many real and imaginary nails. However, the decade lost to the solutionist folly reveals the limits of such technological fixes.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">To be sure, Silicon Valley’s many apps — to monitor our spending, calories and workout regimes — are occasionally helpful. But they mostly ignore the underlying causes of poverty or obesity. And without tackling the causes, we remain stuck in the realm of adaptation, not transformation.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">There’s a difference between nudging us to follow our walking routines — a solution that favors individual adaptation — and understanding why our towns have no public spaces to walk on — a prerequisite for a politics-friendly solution that favors collective and institutional transformation.</p><div id="story-ad-10-wrapper" class="css-f6q96b" style="margin: 2rem auto; padding: 12px 0px 30px; border-width: 1px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); text-align: center; min-height: 280px;"><div id="story-ad-10-slug" class="css-l9onyx" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.5625rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 0.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); letter-spacing: 0.05rem; text-transform: uppercase;"><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">ADVERTISEMENT</p></div><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/opinion/artificial-intelligence-danger.html#after-story-ad-10" class="css-1ly73wi" style="margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: black; position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Continue reading the main story</a><div class="ad story-ad-10-wrapper css-rfqw0c" id="story-ad-10" data-google-query-id="CIfmnqbv8P8CFYfHswodWCEBkw" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: 250px; min-height: 250px;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_11__container__" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0pt none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_11" name="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_11" title="3rd party ad content" width="300" height="250" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" role="region" aria-label="Advertisement" tabindex="0" data-load-complete="true" data-google-container-id="b" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: bottom;"></iframe></div></div><div id="after-story-ad-10" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">But A.G.I.-ism, like neoliberalism, sees public institutions as unimaginative and not particularly productive. They should just adapt to A.G.I., at least according to Mr. Altman, who recently said he was nervous about “the speed with which our institutions can adapt” — part of the reason, he added, “of why we want to start deploying these systems really early, while they’re really weak, so that people have as much time as possible to do this.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">But should institutions <span class="css-2fg4z9 e1gzwzxm0" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">only</span> adapt? Can’t they develop their own transformative agendas for improving humanity’s intelligence? Or do we use institutions only to mitigate the risks of Silicon Valley’s own technologies?</p><h3 class="css-vgpz0b e1gnsphs0" id="link-60ea0046" style="margin: 0px 20px 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">A.G.I. undermines civic virtues and amplifies trends we already dislike.</span></h3><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">A common criticism of neoliberalism is that it has flattened our political life, rearranging it around efficiency. “<a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.law.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/file/coase-problem.pdf" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">The Problem of Social Cost</a>,” a 1960 article that has become a <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.law.uchicago.edu/lawecon/coaseinmemoriam/problemofsocialcost" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">classic</a>of the neoliberal canon, preaches that a polluting factory and its victims should not bother bringing their disputes to court. Such fights are inefficient — who needs justice, anyway? — and stand in the way of market activity. Instead, the parties should privately bargain over compensation and get on with their business.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">This fixation on efficiency is how we arrived at “solving” climate change by letting the <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/europes-big-polluters-win-carbon-credit-windfall-7451d966" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">worst offenders</a> continue as before. The way to avoid the shackles of regulation is to devise a scheme — in this case, taxing carbon — that lets polluters buy credits to match the extra carbon they emit.</p></div></div><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><div id="story-ad-11-wrapper" class="css-f6q96b" style="margin: 2rem auto; padding: 12px 0px 30px; border-width: 1px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); text-align: center; min-height: 280px;"><div id="story-ad-11-slug" class="css-l9onyx" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.5625rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 0.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); letter-spacing: 0.05rem; text-transform: uppercase;"><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">ADVERTISEMENT</p></div><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/opinion/artificial-intelligence-danger.html#after-story-ad-11" class="css-1ly73wi" style="margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: black; position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Continue reading the main story</a><div class="ad story-ad-11-wrapper css-rfqw0c" id="story-ad-11" data-google-query-id="COSg5Krv8P8CFVT1swodxAUGqg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: 250px; min-height: 250px;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_12__container__" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0pt none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_12" name="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_12" title="3rd party ad content" width="300" height="250" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" role="region" aria-label="Advertisement" tabindex="0" data-load-complete="true" data-google-container-id="c" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: bottom;"></iframe></div></div><div id="after-story-ad-11" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" style="margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; flex-direction: column;"><div class="css-53u6y8" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 414px;"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">This culture of efficiency, in which markets measure the worth of things and substitute for justice, inevitably corrodes civic virtues.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">And the problems this creates are visible everywhere. Academics <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/23/opinion/sunday/colleges-measure-learning-outcomes.html" title="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">fret</a> that, under neoliberalism, research and teaching have become commodities. Doctors <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/16/technology/microsoft-ai-human-reasoning.html" title="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">lament</a> that hospitals prioritize more profitable services such as elective surgery over emergency care. Journalists hate that the worth of their articles is measured in <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/annals-of-communications/jonah-peretti-has-regrets-about-buzzfeed-news" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">eyeballs</a>.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Now imagine unleashing A.G.I. on these esteemed institutions — the university, the hospital, the newspaper — with the noble mission of “fixing” them. Their implicit civic missions would remain invisible to A.G.I., for those missions are rarely quantified even in their annual reports — the sort of materials that go into training the models behind A.G.I.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">After all, who likes to boast that his class on Renaissance history got only a handful of students? Or that her article on corruption in some faraway land got only a dozen page views? Inefficient and unprofitable, such outliers miraculously survive even in the current system. The rest of the institution quietly subsidizes them, prioritizing values other than profit-driven “efficiency.”</p><div id="story-ad-12-wrapper" class="css-f6q96b" style="margin: 2rem auto; padding: 12px 0px 30px; border-width: 1px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); text-align: center; min-height: 280px;"><div id="story-ad-12-slug" class="css-l9onyx" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.5625rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 0.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); letter-spacing: 0.05rem; text-transform: uppercase;"><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">ADVERTISEMENT</p></div><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/opinion/artificial-intelligence-danger.html#after-story-ad-12" class="css-1ly73wi" style="margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: black; position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Continue reading the main story</a><div class="ad story-ad-12-wrapper css-rfqw0c" id="story-ad-12" data-google-query-id="CJ-S66zv8P8CFTwaiAkdz3gC8Q" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: 250px; min-height: 250px;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_13__container__" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0pt none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_13" name="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_13" title="3rd party ad content" width="300" height="250" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" role="region" aria-label="Advertisement" tabindex="0" data-load-complete="true" data-google-container-id="d" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: bottom;"></iframe></div></div><div id="after-story-ad-12" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Will this still be the case in the A.G.I. utopia? Or will fixing our institutions through A.G.I. be like handing them over to ruthless consultants? They, too, offer data-bolstered “solutions” for maximizing efficiency. But these solutions often fail to grasp the messy interplay of values, missions and traditions at the heart of institutions — an interplay that is rarely visible if you only scratch their data surface.</p><p></p></div></div></section><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" style="font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; flex-direction: column; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><div class="css-53u6y8" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 414px;"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">In fact, the remarkable performance of ChatGPT-like services is, by design, a refusal to grasp reality at a deeper level, beyond the data’s surface. So whereas earlier A.I. systems relied on explicit rules and required someone like Newton to theorize gravity — to ask how and why apples fall — newer systems like A.G.I. simply learn to predict gravity’s effects by observing millions of apples fall to the ground.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">However, if all that A.G.I. sees are cash-strapped institutions fighting for survival, it may never infer their true ethos. Good luck discerning the meaning of the Hippocratic oath by observing hospitals that have been turned into profit centers.</p></div></div><div style="font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" style="font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; flex-direction: column; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><div class="css-53u6y8" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 414px;"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;"><span class="css-8qgvsz ebyp5n10" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-weight: 700; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Margaret Thatcher’s other</span> famous neoliberal dictum was that “<a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106689" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">there is no such thing as society</a>.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">The A.G.I. lobby unwittingly shares this grim view. For them, the kind of intelligence worth replicating is a function of what happens in individuals’ heads rather than in society at large.</p><div id="story-ad-13-wrapper" class="css-uajuzz" style="margin: 2rem auto; padding: 12px 0px 30px; border-width: 1px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 414px; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); text-align: center; min-height: 280px;"><div id="story-ad-13-slug" class="css-l9onyx" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.5625rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 0.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); letter-spacing: 0.05rem; text-transform: uppercase;"><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">ADVERTISEMENT</p></div><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/opinion/artificial-intelligence-danger.html#after-story-ad-13" class="css-1ly73wi" style="margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: black; position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Continue reading the main story</a><div class="ad story-ad-13-wrapper css-rfqw0c" id="story-ad-13" data-google-query-id="CL3p7_zw8P8CFfwYiAkdfT8GzA" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: 387px;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_14__container__" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0pt none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; min-width: 100%; visibility: visible;"><iframe id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_14" name="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_14" title="3rd party ad content" width="414" height="387" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" role="region" aria-label="Advertisement" tabindex="0" data-load-complete="true" data-google-container-id="e" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: bottom; min-width: 100%;"></iframe></div></div><div id="after-story-ad-13" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">But human intelligence is as much a product of policies and institutions as it is of genes and individual aptitudes. It’s easier to be smart on a fellowship in the Library of Congress than while working several jobs in a place without a bookstore or even decent Wi-Fi.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">It doesn’t seem all that controversial to suggest that more scholarships and public libraries will do wonders for boosting human intelligence. But for the solutionist crowd in Silicon Valley, augmenting intelligence is primarily a technological problem — hence the excitement about A.G.I.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">However, if A.G.I.-ism really is neoliberalism by other means, then we should be ready to see fewer — not more — intelligence-enabling institutions. After all, they are the remnants of that dreaded “society” that, for neoliberals, doesn’t really exist. A.G.I.’s grand project of amplifying intelligence may end up shrinking it.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Because of such solutionist bias, even seemingly innovative policy ideas around A.G.I. fail to excite. Take the recent proposal for a “<a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/05/08/manhattan-project-for-ai-safety-00095779" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline; text-decoration-style: solid; text-decoration-thickness: 1px; text-decoration-color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891);">Manhattan Project for A.I. Safety</a>.” This is premised on the false idea that there’s no alternative to A.G.I.</p><div id="story-ad-14-wrapper" class="css-f6q96b" style="margin: 2rem auto; padding: 12px 0px 30px; border-width: 1px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); border-bottom-color: rgb(243, 243, 243); font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: rgb(247, 247, 247); text-align: center; min-height: 280px;"><div id="story-ad-14-slug" class="css-l9onyx" style="margin: 0px 0px 9px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.5625rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 0.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(204, 204, 204); letter-spacing: 0.05rem; text-transform: uppercase;"><p style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">ADVERTISEMENT</p></div><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/opinion/artificial-intelligence-danger.html#after-story-ad-14" class="css-1ly73wi" style="margin: -1px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; text-decoration: none; color: black; position: absolute; width: 1px; height: 1px; clip: rect(0px, 0px, 0px, 0px); overflow: hidden;">Continue reading the main story</a><div class="ad story-ad-14-wrapper css-rfqw0c" id="story-ad-14" data-google-query-id="CNi-yoTx8P8CFfoWiAkdz9QDKQ" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; height: 250px; min-height: 250px;"><div id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_15__container__" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0pt none; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><iframe id="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_15" name="google_ads_iframe_/29390238/nyt/opinion_15" title="3rd party ad content" width="300" height="250" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0" role="region" aria-label="Advertisement" tabindex="0" data-load-complete="true" data-google-container-id="f" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-width: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: bottom;"></iframe></div></div><div id="after-story-ad-14" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"></div></div><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">But wouldn’t our quest for augmenting intelligence be far more effective if the government funded a Manhattan Project for culture and education and the institutions that nurture them instead?</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Without such efforts, the vast cultural resources of our existing public institutions risk becoming mere training data sets for A.G.I. start-ups, reinforcing the falsehood that society doesn’t exist.</p></div></div><div style="font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" style="font-size: 16px; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; display: flex; flex-direction: column; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><div class="css-53u6y8" style="margin: 0px auto; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; width: 414px;"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0" style="margin: 0px 20px 0.78125rem; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-imperial, georgia, "times new roman", times, serif; font-size: 1.125rem; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.5625rem; vertical-align: baseline; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Depending on how (and if) the robot rebellion unfolds, A.G.I. may or may not prove an existential threat. But with its antisocial bent and its neoliberal biases, A.G.I.-ism already is: We don’t need to wait for the magic Roombas to question its tenets.</p><p class="css-798hid etfikam0" style="margin: 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.9375rem; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.25rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;">Evgeny Morozov, the <a class="css-yywogo" href="http://www.evgenymorozov.com/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline;">author</a> of “To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism,” is the founder and publisher of <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.the-syllabus.com/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline;">The Syllabus</a> and the host of the podcast “The <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://the-santiago-boys.com/" title="" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-signal-editorial,#326891); text-decoration-line: underline;">Santiago Boys</a>.”</p><p class="css-798hid etfikam0" style="margin: 0px 20px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-family: nyt-franklin, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.9375rem; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1.25rem; vertical-align: baseline; color: var(--color-content-secondary,#363636); width: calc(100% - 40px); max-width: 600px;"><br></p></div></div></div></body></html>