Rethinking Agency: How Power, Policy, and Global Inequities Shape the Rise of Artificial General Intelligence
Original framing: “Humans cannot remain passengers in the back of the AGI car” — Financial Times
Current scientific discourse on AGI is dominated by narrow performance metrics and benchmark races, often detached from societal impact assessments. Robust interdisciplinary research—including social sciences, ethics, and systems engineering—is needed to evaluate long‑term risks and benefits. The lack of integrated scientific frameworks perpetuates the sense of inevitability.
The fatalistic AGI narrative is a product of entrenched power structures that privilege corporate and elite technocratic voices, while silencing Indigenous, labor, and Global South perspectives.
Historical parallels show that democratic regulation and collective stewardship can redirect transformative technologies toward equitable outcomes. By integrating cross‑cultural ethics, robust scientific modelling, and trickster insights that invert the passenger metaphor, we uncover leverage points for systemic change. Concrete pathways—such as a UN‑backed governance treaty, a public AI commons, community oversight, and reparative investment—translate this insight into actionable, justice‑oriented policies. Together, these measures reframe AGI from an inevitable destiny to a co‑created future shaped by inclusive governance.