Concerns Over AI’s Growing Influence and Control in Society

At the OpenAI DevDay 2026 conference in San Francisco, a protest highlighted concerns about the direction AI development is taking, portraying OpenAI as a sinking ship. For years, Hollywood painted apocalyptic pictures of robots destroying humanity, yet the real threat could be subtler.

One troubling aspect of AI advancements is the shift towards a high-tech feudal system. People might end up renting access to technology they cannot own. This notion isn’t baseless. Consider the impact of social media from 2012 to 2023. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, teen depression spiked during that period, closely timed with algorithms collecting comprehensive user data.

In 2021, leaked documents from Meta exposed internal awareness of their harmful design choices affecting young users’ mental health. Despite this, engineers continued exploiting user engagement for ad revenue. This era saw a generation sacrificing their mental wellness for digital validation through likes, clicks, and shares.

AI threatens to further destabilize human cognition. Generative models create synthetic realities and personal companions, mimicking human relationships. Teens now interact with custom chatbots that remember secrets and replace genuine social interactions. AI could monopolize thought and behavior, leading users to depend heavily on proprietary software for basic tasks.

The corporate ecosystem thrives on such dependency. OpenAI’s valuation now stands at $852 billion, with Microsoft investing over $13 billion for access to its models. Anthropic, Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon allocate tens of billions annually to maintain dominance. Their primary goal is shareholder value, often disregarding ethical concerns from within their workforce.

The focus on exponential growth sees users locked into addictive, exploitative systems. Corporations historically prioritize short-term profits, leaving long-term societal consequences for the public to bear. This pattern is reminiscent of the tobacco settlement in 1998 and the housing market collapse in 2008. Expecting change seems unrealistic.

Tech executives request public trust despite internal warnings about AI’s potential societal impact. AI could enable a few companies to control technologies performing tasks humans currently do. Such efficiency might outpace human capability across tasks in the near future.

Moreover, the cost of building AI systems creates entry barriers, favoring established corporations. Advanced models require costly data centers consuming significant power. This concentration of resources means a few tech leaders could control modern civilization’s digital frameworks.

This control could revolutionize societal operations, surpassing influences seen during the Industrial Revolution or the internet’s rise. Few private firms might wield control over human knowledge and decision-making. Consumers could end up following prompts from AI entities, paying for guidance told by conversational systems like Claude.

John Mac Ghlionn, who examines culture, society, and technology impacts on life, authored this piece. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. Redistribution of this material is prohibited.