The dominance of AI is not inevitable. We can choose to change things for the better

A protest against AI outside OpenAI’s offices in San Francisco. ‘What often seem like insurmountable problems can be addressed by normal people putting pressure on politicians and companies,’ Nick Evershed writes. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

With many technological developments, from algorithm-driven social media to AI, many people assume there’s a degree of inevitability to their widespread adoption in society.

The argument goes something like this: once the ideas and means to produce the tech are known, then it is inevitable that its usage will spread and we’ll essentially be stuck with it. So therefore we need to accept this and adjust our lives to live with the tech and use it (or at least tolerate it).