Individual responsibility, not external blame, is key to creating a better AI future
Source: Oren Etzioni. "Etzioni on AI: The Pope can talk, but only we can walk – GeekWire." May 26, 2026. www.geekwire.com
The Gist
Etzioni argues that complaining about big tech companies and waiting for moral leaders to fix AI problems won't work. Instead, we need to change our own daily choices - stop using services that violate our stated values about privacy and democracy, even when it's inconvenient.
Conclusion
A better AI future will not be handed down to us by moral authorities or regulations alone - we must actively pursue it through our own choices and behaviors, rather than blaming external forces while continuing to enable harmful AI systems through our daily decisions
Premises
- Moral guidance from authorities (like the Pope's encyclical) historically fails to create meaningful change, as shown by the ignored 1968 contraception ban
- We blame external villains (tech companies, technologists) while our own behavior underwrites their harmful business models
- The real tyranny is self-imposed through our pursuit of convenience, choosing surveilling and manipulative AI systems 'one convenient click at a time'
- Our consumption creates the demand that drives harmful AI development, similar to how drug consumption funds cartels despite efforts to stop suppliers
- We exhibit moral inconsistency by claiming to care about privacy and democracy while freely giving our data to companies and allowing deepfakes to proliferate unchallenged
Assumptions
- Individual consumer choices have significant collective power to shape AI development
- People have meaningful alternatives to current AI systems and platforms
- Moral change requires active participation rather than passive reception of guidance
- The convenience-driven behavior patterns that enable harmful AI can be changed through conscious effort