Wonders & Oddities | Artificial Intelligence

Experts Warn of Gradual Disempowerment Due to AI Reliance

20 October 2026 3 min read هدهد تك | Hudhud Tech

As AI tools increasingly automate various aspects of daily life, experts warn that society may be heading towards a state of ‘gradual disempowerment.’ This term describes the concern that humans could become mere vessels for AI decisions, losing their autonomy and critical thinking skills.

Students are using tools like ChatGPT for homework, while programmers rely on Claude for coding tasks. The recent launch of Meta’s personal assistant, Muse, further illustrates how AI is becoming integrated into everyday activities.

Experts, including Jay Chooi, founder and CEO of Robocurve, emphasize the risks associated with this trend. Chooi stated, “I put gradual disempowerment on the very top of my list. A lot of people feel very powerless, because it requires a lot of effort and a whole-of-society approach to solve it.”

Jan Kulveit, a researcher at Charles University’s Center for Theoretical Studies, coauthored a paper that introduced the term. He noted that this phenomenon does not necessarily stem from a deliberate attempt by AI systems to gain power. Instead, it is often incentivized by the perceived benefits AI can provide across various sectors.

Many individuals are already experiencing this shift. Those who depend heavily on AI for planning and decision-making are often referred to as “meat proxies.” Some users have even allowed AI to plan activities, leading to dangerous situations, such as being stranded on a mountain due to poor AI guidance.

While some envision a future where AI and robots replace human jobs, experts warn that the implications of reliance on AI are already evident. Signs of “cognitive surrender” are emerging, particularly among students, who may allow AI tools to replace their own critical thinking. Research has shown that heavy reliance on AI can diminish cognitive skills and reduce brain activity during tasks like essay writing.

Margaret Mitchell, an AI research scientist at Hugging Face, highlighted the societal implications of this trend. She stated, “If people aren’t actually practicing the skills that the agents are doing for them, they lose the ability to have that skill, and so now you become reliant.”

Mitchell raised concerns about the potential consequences of this dependency, questioning what happens when AI systems fail. “There’s no human you can point to who can fix it. So now you’ve become fully dependent on these systems to fix themselves, and what if that’s not possible?”

The influence of AI on critical decisions is already significant. For instance, an AI targeting system was reportedly involved in a military decision that led to the bombing of a school in Iran, resulting in the deaths of over 150 individuals, mostly children. Additionally, President Donald Trump was allegedly influenced by a conversation with Elon Musk’s Grok to consider military action in Venezuela.

Chooi remarked, “A lot of people are talking about rogue AI hacking into data centers and taking over the world, but it is not in the mainstream consciousness that AI could literally take over the world just by continuing to do what it’s supposed to do, which is automating everything.”