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# AGI Is Coming to Save (or Destroy) Us All—Or Is It?
- URL: https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/agi-is-coming-to-save-or-destroy-us-all-or-is-it/
- Published: 2025-04-14T00:10:49.000Z
- Updated: 2026-07-27T05:23:45.000Z
- Description: Silicon Valley tells us AGI means humanity’s liberation or extinction. But what if AGI is just extreme automation dressed up to scare us into submission?
- Author: Dr Mark van Rijmenam, CSP
- Tags: News, #seo-post-1

Silicon Valley tells us AGI means humanity’s liberation or extinction. But what if AGI is just extreme [automation](https://www.thedigitalspeaker.com/ai-automation-speaker/) dressed up to scare us into submission?

Tech leaders claim artificial general intelligence (AGI), machines smarter than humans, will transform everything by decade’s end, creating wealth or catastrophe. Entrepreneurs like OpenAI’s Sam Altman say superhuman AI is achievable soon.

Yet history repeats itself: past automation panic led nowhere. The AGI hype distracts from real tech harms such as misinformation, hyper-surveillance and mass jobb loss.

AGI is less about reality, more a marketing pitch to justify ignoring current problems like job loss or biased AI models:

- AGI warnings resemble 1950s automation fears.
- Debate sidelines real AI ethics issues.
- Tech firms exploit AGI narrative politically.

AGI’s future isn’t predetermined; it’s what we allow tech companies to make of it. I believe the real challenge isn’t fighting futuristic robots, it’s holding tech accountable today. Will we shape AI proactively or surrender to Silicon Valley’s narrative?

Read the full article on [Intelligencer](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/for-big-tech-the-future-is-agi-what-about-the-rest-of-us.html?ref=thedigitalspeaker.com).

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