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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Joseph de Weck

Our king, our priest, our feudal lord – how AI is taking us back to the dark ages

People confess to priests during Pope Francis’s visit to Portugal in August 2023.
People confess to priests during Pope Francis’s visit to Portugal in August 2023. Photograph: Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters

This summer, I found myself battling through traffic in the sweltering streets of Marseille. At a crossing, my friend in the passenger seat told me to turn right toward a spot known for its fish soup. But the navigation app Waze instructed us to go straight. Tired, and with the Renault feeling like a sauna on wheels, I followed Waze’s advice. Moments later, we were stuck at a construction site.

A trivial moment, maybe. But one that captures perhaps the defining question of our era, in which technology touches nearly every aspect of our lives: who do we trust more – other human beings and our own instincts, or the machine?

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