These experts expected in 2025 that by 2035 there will be…
39% – More negative change than positive change
18% – More positive change than negative change
24% – Fairly equal positive and negative change
14% – Little to no change
More experts than not see negative outcomes as they imagine how the humans-plus-AI evolution affects people’s identities and their sense of meaning and purpose in their lives. They said there are many potentially daunting challenges ahead as people try to maintain a coherent sense of self in a world where AI increasingly mediates and simultaneously expands the potential for human-to-human experiences and relationships and human-synth experiences and relationships. They worry about the fragmentation of identity through multiple digital personas and the potential loss of traditional sources of meaning and purpose, particularly those found through jobs/work. However, some experts see enhanced human flourishing. Following is a selection of related quotes extracted from these experts’ longer essays:
“Being human itself will undergo the most profound changes in human history due to having an alt-AI self, an alt-AI companion or counselor. As we do with all our tools, we will take AI into our bodies and minds. We will no longer think of ourselves as solely human; or, rather, we won’t think that ‘being human’ doesn’t include AI – we will see ourselves part-human, part-other. Our self-sense will now expand to a family of AI agents who work with us, for us, (against us?) – all of which extend our proprioception, stretching it to the distending point. Schizophrenia will be the natural state of most humans – common as aspirin – as we split our identities, part of us in an online venue, part relying on some manner of AI to complete our day-to-day tasks – and using the same AI agents and ‘helpers’ to self-promote, self-brand, self-improve. On platforms owned and financed by oligarchs who want us to use these tools to keep their businesses profitable and earning billions or even trillions of dollars to personally enrich themselves, the self becomes the ultimate business model.” – Barry Chudakov, principal at Sertain Research
“AI will redefine who is a ‘smart’ and a valued, contributing member of society. Who has power and authority when AI reduces the need for human cognitive development and education – how will learning change when AI handles most knowledge work? What is the opportunity for self-improvement and purpose when there is no hope of competing against a bot? Perhaps universities will fill the gap. Instead of providing an education, they will help young people build a life of meaning. … Ironically, the U.S. will lead the world in AI development and then watch its society rapidly decline because of it. This will accelerate the psychological and financial deterioration of an American society already in danger of becoming addicted to their personalized, AI-driven media.” – Mark Schaefer, marketing strategist
“How individuals perceive and adapt to the integration of AI into daily life will significantly influence their human experience. Some will feel enhanced by the technology we‘ve created, while others will view AI as something anti-human. Regardless of individual perspectives on AI in relation to their sense of ‘I,’ everyone will be compelled to reevaluate and potentially redefine their personal definition of what it means to be human. … Those who resist and view AI as ‘anti-human‘ may feel superior in intangible ways by redefining beliefs and reinterpretations of ancient traditions. Conversely, those who embrace AI may feel intellectually superior and are likely to have opportunities for greater material success. These advantages could exacerbate existing divisions, including economic, religious and cultural ones.” – Stephan Adelson, president of Adelson Consulting Services, an expert on digital public health
“Many fear that machines will create their own culture and ethos. I am not convinced, but if that does happen it will be intertwined with the evolving social, environmental and economic ecosystems that we live in, create, destroy and recreate. … The extension of mind into AI challenges our fundamental sense of self and agency. How do we maintain a coherent identity when our thoughts and memories are increasingly externalized and shaped by AI systems?” – Anriette Esterhuysen, South Africa Internet pioneer, Internet Hall of Fame member
“AI will enable us to construct and manage multiple digital personas, tailored to different contexts online. While this offers unprecedented flexibility in self-expression and a kind of multiplicity of the self, it also risks fragmenting the core sense of identity, leaving people grappling with the question: Who am I, really? … The concept of the ‘real’ self may diminish in a world where AI curates identities through agents that guide content, contracts and relationships. In fact, ‘authenticity’ is not a standard that will apply in an AI world at all – a world of clones and copies. Authenticity is de facto dead.” – Tracey Follows, CEO of Futuremade, a consultancy based in London, UK
“Looking ahead, we must also consider the concept of our ‘digital shadow.’ In the not-so-distant future this complementary digital self – comprising our virtual and online skills, digital avatars and accumulated data – will merge with our physical existence. This fusion may grant us access to a new dimension of experience, a kind of ‘timelessness’ where our identities transcend mortality. Future generations could interact with our digital selves. … This evolution raises profound questions about identity, legacy and the human experience in an AI-driven world. AI’s potential to enhance human life is immense, but its integration into society demands intentionality and vigilance.” – Neil Richardson, founder of Emergent Action, a strategic consultancy, and co-author of “Preparing for a World That Doesn’t Exist – Yet”
“If AI in fact eventually achieves consciousness, then what? Suddenly, it changes the nature of how we define what it means to be human. Who will feel more existential dread then? Us – of the AI – or the AI of us? How does that impact feelings of happiness or sadness, meaningfulness or ennui, psychological richness or abject pointlessness? … My view? Ray Kurzweil is right. We will ultimately merge. Eventually AI will become the dominant part of human consciousness, doing everything that we can do far better than we could ever do it. AI will become the dominant part of the AI-human pair, but because AI will not waste, humans will never be eliminated or even subservient. We will provide … those brief blossoms of spontaneous, un-programmable delight AI will never be able to generate.” – Chris Labash, associate professor of communication and innovation at Carnegie Mellon University