“The growth of connective technologies in the past 20 years – the Worldwide Web, mobile devices, collaborative platforms for knowledge creation (Wikipedia), work (Upwork, Uber, etc.) and social connectivity (Instagram, Twitter) and others – has shown clearly that while technologies do have some inherent capabilities, their use and impacts are largely the product of social, political and cultural factors.
“Back then, many of us were excited by the promise of these technologies to democratize and distribute everything. What we are seeing today is clear: While some of these promises have come true, the overall impact has been to centralize and polarize many domains. We now have media platforms owned by a few conglomerates, the world’s highest-ever levels of income and wealth inequality and heightened social and cultural polarization.
“This history provides a vital lesson for the future of artificial intelligence: Any technology, when introduced into an economic and political system, will produce the outcomes that the system incentivizes. Yes, AI will enter virtually every domain of our lives – education, health, work, entertainment, etc.
The European AI infrastructure might incentivize a different kind of AI universe of applications that is more focused on enhancing workers’ power, building greater social cohesion and protecting creative outputs. China’s AI stack might evolve differently, with the government playing a more important role as the owner and regulator of many parts of the AI stack.
“However, how it does so will largely depend on how we regulate, fund and structure ownership of the ‘AI stack’ – the entire chain from physical chips and computing infrastructure to data analytics tools and end-user applications. Resilience depends on whether and how society and, specifically, those in power address this factor.
“Currently, in the U.S. a handful of powerful technology companies dominate the development of this critical infrastructure. Not surprisingly, they are the ones who are reaping greatest economic rewards as well as political power and influence.
“We are seeing a growing desire in Europe to not be dependent on U.S. tech, with calls for developing what some call a ‘European Stack.’ The European AI infrastructure might incentivize a different kind of AI universe of applications that is more focused on enhancing workers’ power, building greater social cohesion and protecting creative outputs. China’s AI stack might evolve differently, with the government playing a more important role as the owner and regulator of many parts of the AI stack.
“In sum, in assessing the human impact in shaping the age AI, we need not focus so much on the technology but on the political, cultural and regulatory systems which will govern its growth and applications.”
This essay was written in January 2026 in reply to the question: “AI systems are likely to begin to play a much more significant role in shaping our decisions, work and daily lives. How might individuals and societies embrace, resist and/or struggle with such transformative change? As opportunities and challenges arise due to the positive, neutral and negative ripple effects of digital change, what cognitive, emotional, social and ethical capacities must we cultivate to ensure effective resilience? What practices and resources will enable resilience? What actions must we take right now to reinforce human and systems resilience? What new vulnerabilities might arise and what new coping strategies are important to teach and nurture?” This and 200-plus additional essay responses are included in the 2026 report “Building a Human Resilience Infrastructure for the AI Age.”