Intelligence curse
noun phrase
The risk that abundant machine intelligence lets institutions create wealth and make decisions while needing fewer ordinary people, weakening the leverage people once gained from their work.
Also known as AI intelligence curse
The intelligence curse is the risk that abundant machine intelligence changes who a system needs.
The argument borrows from the resource curse. When wealth arrives from oil or diamonds rather than from citizens’ labour, governments can become less answerable to those citizens. If intelligence becomes something firms can buy from machines at scale, workers may remain capable while their work buys them less influence.
This sits above the question of whether one person can stay employable. Expertise can still earn a place in the room. It does not guarantee a vote over what the room is for. The curse is not that intelligence disappears. It is that human intelligence may stop being the source from which power needs to draw.
Where it comes up in the sources
Works in the library that use this word. Matched on the word itself, so it is a starting point rather than a reading list.