Artificial intelligence is often portrayed as an unstoppable technological revolution, driven by relentless innovation and vast pools of capital. Yet the greatest obstacle to its future may not be a technical limitation or a financial bubble. It may be democracy itself. Across advanced economies, particularly in the United States, public resistance to AI is emerging as a powerful political force capable of slowing, reshaping or even derailing the technology’s trajectory.

The reasons extend far beyond fears of machines replacing human workers. AI is no longer an invisible piece of software operating in distant laboratories. It demands sprawling data centres that consume enormous amounts of electricity and water, transform local landscapes and place new pressures on ageing power grids. Communities are beginning to ask why they should bear these costs when the economic rewards appear concentrated among a handful of technology companies and investors. The familiar promise that technological progress eventually benefits everyone is no longer accepted without question. This marks an important shift.

Earlier technological revolutions, from mechanisation to the internet, were largely judged by the prosperity they eventually created. AI, however, has entered public consciousness at a time of widening inequality, distrust of large corporations and anxiety over economic security. Workers........

© The Statesman