Emergence of AI Could Shake Modern World’s Humanist Foundations, Historian Yuval Noah Harari Warns

By Toshikazu Yamaguchi / The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings President

11:00 JST, April 3, 2025

In my discussion with Yuval Noah Harari, his points about disinformation and his warnings about humanism being shaken struck me as particularly important.

Harari views AI not as a tool, but as an agent. His view is that, since humanity is dealing with nonorganic agents for the first time, we should pay significant attention to it.

AI’s accelerating development appears to pose a threat as it generates and increases areas of complexity that exceed human comprehension. Take the financial system, for example. If AI makes it overly complex and beyond human comprehension, one wonders if humans can cope with financial crises that may arise.

Information is in a similar situation. Bots are already impersonating humans and spreading disinformation and conspiracy theories on social media. AI makes this even easier and makes it difficult to detect fakes.

Harari contrasted social media with newspapers, arguing that social media’s business model prioritizes inciting anger and hatred over “whether … something is truthful or not.” In contrast, he said, newspapers seek the truth, issue corrections when they make mistakes and build trust. He emphasized the importance of newspapers in an era dominated by social media.

He further argued that to prevent the spread of disinformation, platform operators need to be held accountable for correcting social media algorithms and legally regulating posts by bots. He argued that AI and bots do not have human rights, and that these measures would not undermine freedom of expression. This is a thought-provoking suggestion.

Even more significant are Harari’s remarks on the recognition that the emergence of AI could shake the humanism to which humanity has become accustomed, possibly leading to a post-human world. No country is prepared for such an unknown change. If we face such a major change while leaving disinformation unchecked, we could fall into serious chaos.

I took that as something that needed to be seriously considered.

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