02-07-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
What Would Hayek Think of AI?
It keeps happening—some shiny new idea or technology promises to solve all our problems. Give power to experts to arrange affairs 'scientifically,' and poverty, oppression, disease, war and all human ills will disappear. Today, we are asked to trust artificial intelligence.
The International Monetary Fund promises that 'AI can enhance democratic institutions by ensuring citizens' voices are truly heard.' Power wielded by a few experts can enhance democracy? Isn't that what the early 20th-century Progressive movement promised? For that matter, isn't that the thinking behind Soviet 'scientific socialism'?
