Running the world with AI? (Part Two)

Great ideas bring with them their good and bad unforeseen effects. 

To begin with the good news, where could AI outperform human leadership, not necessarily as a ruler, but as a decision-support system? On the subject of evidence-based policy, AI could analyze climate data, economic models, and demographic trends without political pressure. 

In terms of long-term planning it could literally shine as humans and their short-sighted political leaders tend to prioritize short-term wins. AI could optimize human life conditions for decades or centuries. As it will become a global leadership device, AI would not be subjected and bound by borders or national interests. It could also be designed and adjusted to minimize certain human biases (though it can also inherit others if it’s not carefully built). 

Naysayers will object that there are areas where AI as we now envision it could not replace human leadership. Even the most principled AI has limits, like in terms of its legitimacy, as people accept leadership when it feels accountable and human and as it now stands, AI could not replace democratic consent or cultural legitimacy. Besides, there are those who believe that some decisions require human values, empathy, and lived experience. 

Then, there’s the accountability issue. If an AI makes a harmful decision, who is responsible? This is could be a major unresolved ethical issue. Furthering the list of limitations, there are risks of misuse of AI, as any powerful system can be co‑opted by authoritarian governments, corporations and military forces. Even if the AI is principled, its operators might not be. 

Realistically, most experts envision not “AI replacing leaders,” but see it ,more used as a sounding board or a global advisor in evaluating policies, predicts long-term consequences and flagging human-rights risks. It could play a huge role in modeling climate and resource impacts and helping leaders avoid catastrophic decisions.  

Perhaps we should see it as a UN‑aligned guardian of long-term thinking, not a ruler. This hybrid model would preserve human accountability, democratic legitimacy, cultural nuances while offering at the same time data-driven insight, long-term planetary perspective and reduced impulsiveness. 

Tomorrow we’ll search how my question can really be answered…