My engagement with Artificial Intelligence is not academic, nor ideological. It is mostly practical and almost casual. I use it the way one uses a tool on a workbench—to check ideas, to test thoughts, to clarify doubts, sometimes simply to talk things through. Over time, this interaction has quietly filled my spaces of time that would otherwise remain unoccupied. It amuses me, occasionally surprises me, and more often than not forces me to pause and reflect—not so much about the machine, but about human consciousness – the subject very close to my heart.

In one such interaction, while discussing something entirely ordinary, a simple line was said by AI: “When humans stop thinking, tools become threats. When humans stay conscious, tools become extensions.” What struck me was not just the line itself, but the irony of its source. A machine, incapable of awareness, articulating something so deeply human. That moment stayed with me. It pushed me to think about why AI creates so much anxiety today, and whether that fear is really about artificial intelligence at all.

Throughout history, humans have reacted uneasily to every powerful tool they created. Fire, machines, electricity, nuclear energy, the internet—each was once described as something that would destroy humanity. None of them did so on their own. They only reflected the depleted level of consciousness at which humans on this planet were operating. A tool has no intent. It does not know why or how it is used. It simply amplifies the quality of mind that uses it.

AI is no exception. Around this time, I was listening to Yuval Noah Harari speak about AI and human evolution and also watching AI directed Iran-Israel bombardment of missiles. I was struck to hear the warning of Harari that by 2030—so near—humans may lose recognition of their own will, their essence, through the stupendous and unchecked use of AI. That observation lingered with me. The danger, as he pointed out, is not that machines will overpower humans, but that humans may gradually disengage from their own agency. When speed replaces reflection, when convenience replaces responsibility, when outputs replace judgment, tools begin to feel threatening—not because they act independently, but because humans step away.

At this point, a thought arose in me from the human side: “AI is a devil’s workshop when used by an animal brain devoid of elevated consciousness.” I do not use the word “animal” as an insult. I mean a mind driven purely by instinct—fear, greed, reaction, impulse. Intelligence, whether human or artificial, when operating without awareness, has always been dangerous. This is not a modern realization. History has demonstrated it repeatedly.

While reflecting on this, a verse from the Qur’an came to my mind, from Surah al Hashr, Ayat 19: “Don’t become like those who forget God, so much so that they forget their own selves; such people are the ones who truly go astray.” In one of the Tafsirs’, the meaning is rendered slightly differently, almost as if God says, “I will make them forget their own awareness, their own consciousness.” Even for a non-religious reader, the idea is striking. Forgetfulness here can be understood as forgetting ultimate reality, forgetting meaning, forgetting self-awareness itself. The consequence described is profound. When humans lose touch with that deeper awareness, they lose touch with themselves, and then they can use the tools of science in any brutal manner their unconscious mind dictates.

This forgetting of the self is what makes any powerful tool dangerous. When inner awareness is absent, intelligence becomes blind. Decisions become mechanical. Actions detach from consequence. In such a state, AI does not create harm—it reflects absence; absence of reflection, responsibility and consciousness. The machine merely mirrors the level of attention we bring to it.

One of the great confusions of our time is the assumption that intelligence and consciousness are the same. They are not. Intelligence is the ability to calculate, predict, optimize, and respond. Consciousness is the ability to pause, to reflect, to choose deliberately, and to recognize context and consequence. Let me assure humanity that AI, and no other tool produced by humans, will ever have consciousness. Matter is not capable of creating consciousness. It is not tools that can destroy humanity, but the depletion of human consciousness that may use tools to wipe out its own essence and existence.

Much of the fear around AI comes from a deeper fear—the fear that humans may abandon their own awareness while gaining powerful tools. We worry about losing control while quietly handing it over. We fear replacement while neglecting responsibility. Condemning AI while ignoring human behaviour leads to contradiction.

Used consciously, AI behaves very differently. It becomes an extension of human capability rather than a substitute for human judgment. It assists thinking without replacing it. It reveals patterns without dictating meaning. In such hands, AI is no more threatening than a calculator or a telescope. It extends reach, not intent.

Perhaps that is why my interaction with AI feels less frightening and more revealing. Not because the machine understands anything deeply, but because it reflects our own thinking with unusual clarity. AI is a mirror. It shows us what we bring to it. If we bring awareness, it reflects usefulness. If we bring carelessness, it reflects danger.

The real question, then, is not whether AI is good or bad. That question leads nowhere. The real question is whether we, as users, as decision-makers, as citizens, are willing to remain conscious while using powerful tools. Fear dissolves when responsibility is accepted. Tools stop being threats when humans remain present.

AI is not here to replace humanity. It is here to expose it and reveal its true identity- the only one – its self – the level of consciousness.

Dr. M. A. Kawosa, IFS. PhD.(India); PhD. (Germany).

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