AI is making reality harder to trust: Yuval Noah Harari warns of a threat to humanity

In a recent interview, Yuval Noah Harari warned about autonomous AI and urged government regulation. His remarks highlighted threats to public trust, shared facts and human oversight.

In Short

• Machines can independently make decisions and invent entirely new ideas
• Artificial intelligence may operate in ways humans struggle to understand
• Social media algorithms exploit threat awareness to sustain user attention

“AI is not a tool. It is an agent.” Historian Yuval Noah Harari has warned that artificial intelligence may change the world in ways that people cannot yet understand. In a recent interview with Veda 24, he spoke of the dangers of losing control over machines, the decline of trust, and the need for governments to act.

Professor Harari said that earlier technologies were tools. People decided how to use them. Artificial intelligence, however, can make decisions on its own.

“An agent is something that can make decisions by itself and invent new ideas by itself,” he said.

He believes AI will not simply become more like human beings. It will develop in a different way. As he put it, “It is an alien type of intelligent.” By this, he means that AI may think and act in ways that humans do not.

Harari warned that AI agents could enter banks, governments, factories and other institutions. People may then find it hard to understand the systems that govern their lives.

THE LOSS OF TRUST

Harari sees trust as one of the chief foundations of society. “The basis for civilisation is trust and we are losing it,” he said.

He also warned that people are finding it harder to know what is true. “It's becoming more and more difficult to tell the difference between what's real and what isn't.”

In his view, the growth of false information and artificial content may weaken the shared facts on which people depend. He fears that society could lose its ability to understand events and make sound decisions.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND HUMAN BEHAVIOUR

Harari said that social media algorithms take advantage of human nature. People are quick to notice danger, and online platforms can use this tendency to keep them watching.

“On social media the algorithms are showing us a snake after a snake after a snake,” he said.

He believes this constant stream of alarming content feeds anger and public division. He called for responsible journalism, saying that human journalists must seek the truth rather than publish the most outrageous stories to gain clicks and likes.

He also suggested warning labels for online content, much as food carries information about salt and sugar. Social media, he said, is “the diet of our mind.”

TIME FOR POLITICAL ACTION

Harari urged governments to regulate dangerous uses of AI and hold companies responsible for their systems. He called on political leaders to “slow down and give politics time.”

He does not argue that all AI development must stop. Rather, he wants stronger safeguards and human supervision.

Learning to Adapt

Harari accepts that change is a constant of history. The question, he said, is whether people will have time to understand and adapt to it.

“We need to embrace the change and learn how to change in a wise way,” he said.

His warning is plain: AI may bring great benefits, but people must preserve trust, demand responsibility and remain able to judge the world for themselves.

- Ends