You could say that we live in the age of artificial intelligence, although it feels truer about no aspect of our lives than it does of advertising. “If you want to sell something to people today, you call it AI,” says Yuval Noah Harari in the new Big Think video above, even if the product has only the vaguest technological association with that label. To determine whether something should actually be called artificially intelligent, ask whether it can “learn and change by itself and come up with decisions and ideas that we don’t anticipate,” indeed can’t anticipate. That AI-enabled waffle iron being pitched to you probably doesn’t make the cut, but you may already be interacting with numerous systems that do.
As the author of the global bestseller Sapiens and other books concerned with the long arc of human civilization, Harari has given a good deal of thought to how technology and society interact. “In the twentieth century, the rise of mass media and mass information technology, like the telegraph and radio and television” formed “the basis for large-scale democratic systems,” but also for “large-scale totalitarian systems.”
Unlike in the ancient world, governments could at least begin to “micromanage the social and economic and cultural lives of every individual in the country.” Even the vast surveillance apparatus and bureaucracy of the Soviet Union “could not surveil everybody all the time.” Alas, Harari anticipates, things will be different in the AI age.
Human-operated organic networks are being displaced by AI-operated inorganic ones, which “are always on, and therefore they might force us to be always on, always being watched, always being monitored.” As they gain dominance, “the whole of life is becoming like one long job interview.” At the same time, even if you were already feeling inundated by information before, you’ve more than likely felt the waters rise around you due to the infinite production capacities of AI. One individual-level strategy Harari recommends to counteract the flood is going on an “information diet,” restricting the flow of that “food of the mind,” which only sometimes has anything to do with the truth. If we binge on “all this junk information, full of greed and hate and fear, we will have sick minds; perhaps a period of abstinence can restore a certain degree of mental health. You might consider spending the rest of the day taking in as little new information as possible — just as soon as you finish catching up on Open Culture, of course.
Related content:
Stephen Fry Explains Why Artificial Intelligence Has a “70% Risk of Killing Us All”
Yuval Noah Harari and Fareed Zakaria Break Down What’s Happening in the Middle East
Based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and culture. His projects include the Substack newsletter Books on Cities and the book The Stateless City: a Walk through 21st-Century Los Angeles. Follow him on the social network formerly known as Twitter at @colinmarshall.
I’m weary of the constant “sky is falling” takes on what’s mistakenly labeled “A.I.” These are synergetic extrapolative systems, not autonomous overlords. The real issue isn’t that they’ll suddenly outsmart us — it’s how corporations wield them. We’ve already seen the blueprint in social media: tools designed to make our attention more predictable, profitable, and pliant. Fear-driven narratives cast humans as helpless, but what’s overlooked is the obvious — these systems are shaped by corporate incentives: surveillance, manipulation, profit extraction. The danger isn’t that “AI” thinks; it’s that it extends social media’s logic into nearly every corner of our lives.
I’m more interested in protecting myself from Yuval Noah Harari.
Beyond the Label: AI vs. True Learning
NI Circle Brief — Opinion/Commentary — August 23, 2025
Summary
Yuval Noah Harari observes that today many products get labeled ‘AI’ to boost appeal—even when they do not learn
by themselves. He suggests a practical test: does the system learn and change on its own, generating ideas or
decisions we did not and could not anticipate? Natural Intelligence (NI) agrees: the word ‘AI’ should be reserved for
systems exhibiting genuine adaptive learning. The deeper question is how society preserves trust and balance as real
learning systems increasingly shape decisions in finance, health, education, and governance.
NI Compass Reading
Reading & Guidance
We are in a hype-saturated moment. Act now to restore clarity before trust decays.
Imbalance: illusion vs. reality. Marketing inflates claims; users cannot see limits. Coo
M■y■ (appearance) vs. Satya (truth). See through the label to the function: does it t
Adopt honest labeling; add a ‘learning disclosure’ line; publish model limits; provide
Direction NI Lens North (When) Astrological / Timing West (What) Natural / Constitution East (Story) Mythological / Meaning South (How) Practical / Tiny Actions Grace■Seed Actions (Do This Now)
• **Learning Disclosure:** Add a plain■language line to product pages: ‘This tool does/does not learn by itself.’
• **Limits & Escalation:** Publish known limitations and provide a clear path to a human helper for edge cases.
• **Evidence Tagging:** When claiming ‘AI■powered’, link to a short note showing how the system learns (data,
update cadence, evaluation).
• **Energy Honesty:** Include a simple energy footprint note to align incentives toward efficient, meaningful use.
Notes & Sources
• Big Think video (Aug 2025): Yuval Noah Harari on AI hype vs. real learning systems.
• General industry definitions: adaptive learning as a criterion distinguishing automation from AI.
• Stanford HAI (background): Human■Centered AI and transparency practices.
Disclaimer: Circle ■■ NI Reflection Series — Opinion/Commentary. The NI Compass and Grace■Seed Actions are original proposals,
not industry standards. Quotes and references are based on public commentary; interpretations are ours.
Principle: Nature doesn’t race; it balances. • Contact: Anil K. Agarwal • Circle ■■