Arundhati Roy argues that artificial intelligence represents capitalism’s final destination, threatening human creativity, freedom, employment, and the environment. While her concerns about corporate power and unchecked technological development deserve attention, her argument risks overlooking AI’s enormous potential to improve human life.
The real danger is not artificial intelligence itself, but how we choose to use it.
Throughout history, new technologies have inspired fear. The printing press challenged established authority, industrial machinery transformed traditional labor, and computers reshaped entire industries. Yet these innovations also expanded access to knowledge, increased productivity, and created opportunities that previous generations could scarcely imagine. AI may follow a similar path.
Far from destroying creativity, AI can help people express it. Writers can overcome creative blocks, artists can experiment with new techniques, and students can access personalized learning. These tools do not eliminate human imagination; they can extend its reach. The value of human creativity lies not simply in producing something, but in the experiences, emotions, intentions, and ideas behind it.
Roy is right to question the concentration of wealth and power among technology companies. However, these problems are not unique to AI. They reflect broader economic and political systems that societies can reform through competition, labor protections, privacy laws, and fair compensation for creators. Rejecting technological progress is not the only way to address corporate exploitation.
Similarly, AI's environmental costs are real, but they should be weighed against its potential benefits in medical research, energy efficiency, climate modeling, and resource management. The appropriate response is to develop more efficient systems and require greater environmental accountability—not to assume that technological advancement must inevitably destroy the planet.
Concerns about job displacement also deserve serious consideration. While AI will transform many professions, it can automate repetitive tasks, improve productivity, and create new kinds of work. Governments, businesses, and educational institutions must help workers adapt to these changes and ensure that the benefits are shared more fairly.
Ultimately, humanity does not have to choose between technological progress and human dignity. We can embrace AI while demanding transparency, accountability, ethical safeguards, and respect for individual rights.
Roy warns that AI could diminish our humanity. But used thoughtfully, it could also help us learn more, solve difficult problems, expand creative possibilities, and improve lives.
The future is not predetermined by technology or capitalism. It will be shaped by the choices we make as individuals and societies.
The goal should not be to stop AI, but to ensure that AI serves humanity rather than humanity serving AI.
REFERENCES
Arundhati Roy, Apocalypse Now and Then. October 15, 2026. Part of this essay will be delivered as a lecture at The People’s AI Assembly on 19 October in New York City.
Arundhati Roy argues that artificial intelligence is capitalism’s final destination, warning that it concentrates power and wealth in the hands of technology billionaires at the expense of humanity.
Artificial intelligence is capitalism's final destination (equator.org): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50117382
Daniel Schmachtenberger & Liv Boeree Moloch I & Capitalism: The System Eating Itself | This conversation between Liv Boeree and Daniel Schmachtenberger explores the Moloch framework, a concept describing how perverse incentives and unhealthy competition can lead to systemic failures where even well-intentioned actors are forced into outcomes that harm the common good (e.g., arms races, environmental degradation, and social media polarization).
Big Tech Oligarchs Have a Terrible Plan for Humanity” The Atlantic October 16, 2026 Read the article in The Atlantic
AI Doesn’t Reduce Work—It Intensifies It Read the article in Harvard Business Review
The impact of GenAI on jobs, productivity and work organization Read the ILO research brief
Zachary Karabell ‘Extinction potential’: This alarmist AI narrative is more than bad PR The Washington Post October 14, 2026 (Argues that AI should be judged by its actual applications and outcomes, rather than solely by predictions of catastrophe.
Belonging Forum, AI Is Making Us More Productive. Now We Need To Decide What Productivity Is For the article in Forbes Forbes EQ, July 21, 2026 (Explores AI's potential to improve productivity and reduce repetitive work.)
How AI is redistributing creative work. June 2026. https://www.adobe.com/ai/research/202606/ai-is-redistributing-creative-work.html
Gallup. AI and Workplace Productivity: What Leaders Need to Know. July 27, updated September 30, 2026 (evidence of how people are already using AI to improve their work.)
