Artificial intelligence promises greater efficiency and relief from routine tasks. At the same time, it requires substantial amounts of energy, water, and raw materials, reshapes how we work and learn, and creates new forms of technological dependency. In our latest Horizon Scan, we brought together representatives from academia, policy, and civil society to explore a central paradox of artificial intelligence: while AI enables efficiency and convenience, it also raises fundamental questions of dependency, autonomy, and responsibility.

The discussion addressed the sustainability of AI as its environmental footprint continues to grow, the implications of delegating creative, critical, and technical competencies to machines, and the broader challenge of how societies can embrace technological innovation without losing human judgement, independent thinking, and digital self-determination.

For the keynote address, we welcomed Dr. Stefan Ullrich, a computer scientist and philosopher who critically examines the societal impacts of information technologies. His work focuses on how digital technologies shape our relationship with knowledge, decision-making, and public reasoning. In his talk, he traced a line from the philosophical roots of computability to today’s language models, raising the question of whether the convenience of intelligent systems might lead us to give up our own judgement and autonomy.

Dr. Stefan Ullrich’s conclusion is encouraging:

“The disenchantment of AI begins at the point where we stop being just users and become creators again.”

The following discussion picked up this idea directly. It became clear that the debate on artificial intelligence goes far beyond technical innovation. It raises key questions about education, sustainability, power, regulation, and participation in society. There was agreement that it is not enough to simply use new technologies.

“The future of AI will not be decided in data centers, but by whether we are willing to shape its development together in a democratic way.”

Horizon Scan is our exclusive discussion series dedicated to questions about the future and our capacity to shape it. Through these conversations, we explore fundamental issues related to sustainable development, research, environmental policy, and societal transformation.