- Yuval Noah Harari warns AI may make humans intellectually like cows in 10-20 years
- AI could develop complex financial systems beyond human understanding and control
- Humans may become dependent on AI-driven decisions shaping society and economy
Historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari has warned that artificial intelligence (AI) could make humans intellectually and practically comparable to cows within the next 10 to 20 years, as increasingly complex financial and legal systems potentially move beyond human understanding.
In an interview with Daniel Stach for Czech Television, Harari compared humanity's possible future relationship with AI to the way cows exist within human-controlled agricultural and financial systems without understanding how those systems work.
“We are the cows of the future,” Harari said, warning that AI could eventually develop financial systems that humans would struggle to comprehend or control.
He explained that cows are affected by decisions made through stock markets, bond markets and corporate financial systems, even though they have no understanding of money or the economic structures that influence their lives. Similarly, he argued, humans could find themselves increasingly dependent on AI-driven systems whose decisions and underlying logic remain beyond their intellectual reach.
Harari stressed that the potential danger does not necessarily involve AI physically attacking or killing humans. Instead, he warned that the technology could gradually gain control over critical systems, particularly finance and bureaucracy, reducing humanity's ability to understand and influence decisions that shape society.
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According to the historian, AI has a particular advantage in administrative and financial environments because it can process and remember vast amounts of information. Human bankers and officials, by contrast, cannot individually track every transaction or manage the growing complexity of modern financial networks.
Harari suggested that AI could use these capabilities to construct increasingly sophisticated financial and legal systems. While such systems might operate efficiently, their complexity could make them difficult for ordinary people, experts and even the institutions overseeing them to understand.
He argued that this imbalance could create a future in which humans remain part of the systems governing their lives but lose meaningful control over how those systems function.
The comparison with cows illustrates Harari's broader concern about the gap between technological capability and human comprehension. Just as people can understand and manage systems that animals cannot perceive, advanced AI could eventually create structures that humans are unable to fully grasp.
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His warning raises important questions: As AI takes over more roles in banks, courts, and government offices, who is held responsible when things go wrong, how do we make sure decisions are clear and fair, and how much power should humans keep?
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