This spring, every graduation speech seemed to pick a side on AI.

Either AI is threatening everything that makes us human, and we should be afraid. Or human creativity is irreplaceable, and we should be hopeful. Both takes have produced standing ovations and nearly the same advice: stay curious, stay human. 

But despite the thoughtful speeches about the future, we all continue to miss a fundamental question: what is the impact of AI on how we know ourselves and what we believe?

We are not choosing between a human future and an AI future. We are already living in an augmented one. GPS reroutes us before we notice we are lost. Autocomplete finishes our sentences. Algorithms decide what news we see, what music fits our mood, and which products we didn't know we needed. 

Often, we are influenced by AI without even knowing it. When we log in to our emails, AI summarizes our messages and schedules our meetings. When we turn to our phones first thing in the morning, our social media feeds decide what we are angry about before we’ve even had our morning coffee.

The question is not whether AI will change us—it already has. The question is what it’s already doing to our sense of who we are.

Much of the conversation surrounding AI so far has focused on........

© Time