Ride the AI Tiger at Your Own Risk

AI is giving rise to both high hopes (Maslej et al. 2025) and curdling fears. Those who believe that mankind is on the threshold of a new dawn (Korinek 2024), promising betterment for the majority, are eagerly awaiting the advent of artificial general intelligence (AGI) far exceeding human cognitive capabilities. The opposing view, shared by most of the public (Kennedy et al. 2025) and the majority of workers (Acemoglu et al. 2026) in the United States and worldwide, is less optimistic (Poushter et al. 2025b). Fear of job losses, the manipulation of preferences by bots, the socially corrosive spread of false information, AI-empowered cyberattacks (CrowdStrike 2026), the democratization of technology to create bioweapons (Charles 2025), pervasive surveillance (West 2025) that imperils privacy, the gradual erosion of human agency, and the retreat of critical thinking (Duke 2026) and innovativeness, are causing disquiet (Mineo 2025).

Author:
Shahid Yusuf
Chief Economist, The Growth Dialogue, George Washington University School of Business. Send comments to shahid_yusuf@hotmail.com, copied to info@growthdialogue.org.

Publication:
The Growth Dialogue

Publication Year:
June 2026

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Ride the AI Tiger at Your Own Risk