Brigid Delaney calls for resistance to AI-driven nihilism
The writer argues that public numbness towards warnings about artificial intelligence is weakening critical thinking, relationships and collective action.
A Guardian Opinion article by Brigid Delaney argues that indifference towards warnings about artificial intelligence reflects a broader sense of nihilism. She says fears about possible human extinction, employment, climate impacts and social stability are being absorbed without the urgency they might warrant.
Delaney recounts a conversation with a friend who, after hearing a claim that AI could “kill all humans” within 10 years, briefly said he wished he had never had children. She presents the exchange as an example of how an atmosphere of overlapping crises can produce numbness, rather than evidence of wider public opinion.
The article attributes that numbness to prolonged exposure to smartphones and social media, algorithm-driven individualisation and the perceived political power of technology companies. Delaney also suggests that the apparent inevitability of technological progress can make resistance seem futile.
Her proposed response begins with “waking up” to what she describes as a preventable threat. She then calls for a return to first principles: identifying the conditions needed for human flourishing and defending them.
Those conditions, in Delaney’s account, include independent critical thinking, human-to-human care and direct engagement with the natural world. She argues that technology has a legitimate place, but should not replace those activities or become the primary means of addressing personal problems.
The article does not independently substantiate the claim that AI could cause human extinction within a decade. Its discussion of AI’s effects and the causes of public numbness is presented as Delaney’s argument, while several examples, including claims about GPT and mental-health services, are unsupported in the supplied material.
