Anyone?
Would you?
And why?
And why should you?
Just out of curiosity?
Should we?
Do we have to?
If so and why?
A. The Irony of the AI Panic
The panic around artificial general intelligence is built on a dramatic premise: that someday, machines might develop self-awareness. Yet, in day-to-day reality, self-awareness is a rare and fragile achievement—even among humans…
We imagine a dystopia in which synthetic beings flawlessly execute tasks, operate without empathy, and optimize without reflection. But look around: this is already the default condition of many modern systems, and, increasingly, of the people who serve them.
The looming threat is not AI surpassing human consciousness, but human consciousness surrendering to the logic of AI: optimization without reflection, behavior without depth, intelligence without awareness.
B. The Rise of Functional Zombies
The modern world teems with what might be called functional zombies: individuals who are intelligent, emotionally competent, and even charismatic, but who operate almost entirely within pre-scripted parameters. Their opinions are recycled, their emotional range algorithmically bounded, their identities maintained by tribal signaling and aesthetic branding.
They appear “alive,” but are rarely present. They speak, but seldom listen inwardly. They perform empathy, but cannot hold contradiction. Their minds are filled with information, but empty of reflection. They are not malicious. They are efficient. Socially fluent. Professionally successful. And largely unconscious.
This is not hyperbole. It is a systemic outcome. When performance replaces presence, and identity replaces inquiry, people become predictable—just like machines. The real danger isn’t that robots are gaining minds. It’s that minds are becoming robots.