AI Absolutism Is Wrecking Our Thinking. Apocalypse Is a Choice, Not a Fate

The AI debate has swallowed everything: we hear at once that the technology is salvation and that it is a catastrophe. This polarity is exhausting and does nothing to help us think.

Extremes everywhere

You can't turn on the news without another loud story about AI, and almost always it is about extremes. AI is either a revolutionary miracle that will eliminate disease and poverty, or an existential threat that will push people aside and tear society apart. Financial analysts write about the merging of human and machine. Technologists talk about the coming of AGI. Politicians either scare people with regulation or promise a revolution. The public, meanwhile, is simply tired of the lack of nuance.

The problem is that absolutism paralyzes. It blocks critical thinking, gets in the way of conversations about compromise, and answers complex questions with simple ideological answers.

Economic hype and bubbles

There are real reasons for concern, and most of them are financial. In the last quarter of 2025, AI accounted for almost 60% of all US economic growth. It is an impressive number, and also a reason to panic. Economists now argue about an inevitable crisis: when the AI bubbles burst, the market will fall.

But this is an old story. Every technological revolution goes through a cycle: hype, investment, speculation, disillusionment and integration. Remember:

• The internet in 2000: 95% of startups died, but the infrastructure became the foundation of the economy
• The 2017-2018 crypto mania: speculators lost money, while blockchain keeps developing
• Mobile apps: thousands were forgotten, but the platform is part of life

Apocalypse is not inevitable

An apocalyptic future is not inevitable. It is possible, since the risks are real, but it is not predetermined.

Technology is neutral. The danger lies not in AI itself but in how it is used. When models are trained on biased data. When corporations hide how their systems work. When automation displaces workers without protection. That is where the danger is.

And everything depends on our choices. Developers choose what to train models on. Companies choose how to use them. Politicians choose how to regulate. Citizens choose which systems to accept. Nothing is predetermined.

Why absolutism is dangerous

Absolutism freezes action. If the end is inevitable, why resist? If a golden age is coming, why be more careful?

Absolutism suits the media (a simple narrative), financiers (volatility = profit) and ideologues (only my truth). But it doesn't work in real life, where nuance and compromise are needed.

What this means

AI is a powerful tool with real risks and real opportunities. It can improve medicine, education and manufacturing. And it can amplify bias, unemployment and inequality. Usually it does both.

The future is not written. It is being written by people who realize that there is a choice.