Agency is the central error of the AI as normal technology position, and this critique misses it entirely. I think that’s why it seems like something of a strawman.
Normal technology replaces work. Agentic AI will replace workers.
This is a somewhat reasonable mistake to make, as AI to date is really not very agentic. It does what it’s told and is only useful with frequent detailed human input. It is a tool.
But it will not remain a tool. There are economic and other incentives for making AI more agentic, and work is proceeding apace.
I think it’s very useful to make this argument carefully, so that more people will see this before it happens, but I think they will at least see it when it happens.
Agency is the central error of the AI as normal technology position, and this critique misses it entirely. I think that’s why it seems like something of a strawman.
Normal technology replaces work. Agentic AI will replace workers.
This is a somewhat reasonable mistake to make, as AI to date is really not very agentic. It does what it’s told and is only useful with frequent detailed human input. It is a tool.
But it will not remain a tool. There are economic and other incentives for making AI more agentic, and work is proceeding apace.
I think it’s very useful to make this argument carefully, so that more people will see this before it happens, but I think they will at least see it when it happens.
I make the agency argument explicitly here.