How to Preserve Agency in an AI-Driven Future
Imagine sitting in a self-driving car with no steering wheel, no brakes, and no clear way to override its decisions. At first, this might seem liberating—after all, you don’t need to worry about checking the directions or navigating through traffic. But as the car starts taking turns you wouldn’t have chosen yourself, a question arises: are you truly in control, or have you handed over your agency to a machine?
Agency, or the ability to make meaningful decisions and control one’s path, is central to human fulfillment. Yet, as artificial intelligence drives more of our choices, our relationship with agency grows more complex. Are we benefiting from AI's efficiencies, or are we quietly losing something essential in the process?
In this article, we’ll explore what agency means, the challenges posed by automation (especially at work), and some actionable steps we can take to preserve autonomy in an AI-driven future.
Agency is… well, important
Hopefully, this is a completely uncontentious statement, but agency is really, really important for developing personal and professional happiness. You could read Seligman on “authentic happiness,”1 Ryan & Deci on self-determination theory,2 or any of the thousands of other studies and articles advocating that we care about being able to control our lives. Regardless, they'll all roughly come back to the same point: the ability to act independently and make choices is a cornerstone of our well-being.
This, among other practical factors, is why one of the biggest punishments we’ve designed as a species has been to constrain people’s agency by putting them in prison. In fact, according to Hojman & Miranda, agency can have a comparable effect on life satisfaction to income.3
Agency is also easier said than done
While we can hopefully all agree that exercising agency is important, this might actually be easier said than done—especially in a world that is increasingly being automated by AI. In fact, given how important it is to our well-being, we as individuals know surprisingly little about what it takes for us to actually feel like we’re exercising agency. One critical point that we may not often consider, and which may be relevant to our AI-led future, is that our well-being depends on a feeling of agency, not on our actual ability to make decisions themselves.
Think of it this way: imagine you’re in a highly complex environment where you are free to do whatever you want, but it always seems like your actions have unintended consequences. You might technically be able to exercise control over your choices, but you’ll likely feel a strong lack of agency and a general feeling of bummed-outness. This is because our sense of autonomy is a fragile thing—something that we need to understand, nurture, and, in the context of AI, hopefully not accidentally kill. It might seem like a luxury, but it’s actually a necessity for setting ourselves up for success. Sheldon et al. even showed across three studies that supporting one’s own autonomy is more important than feeling supported by others.4
References
- Seligman, M. E. P. (2002). Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfillment. Free Press.
- Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68
- Hojman, D. A., & Miranda, Á. (2018). Agency, human dignity, and subjective well-being. World Development, 101(C), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.07.010
- Sheldon, K. M., Corcoran, M., & Titova, L. (2021). Supporting one’s own autonomy may be more important than feeling supported by others. Motivation Science, 7(2), 176–186. https://doi.org/10.1037/mot0000215
- Beck, L. A. (1992). Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Journal of Leisure Research, 24(1), 93–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.1992.11969876
- Calvo, Rafael & Peters, Dorian & Vold, Karina & Ryan, Richard. (2020). Supporting Human Autonomy in AI Systems: A Framework for Ethical Enquiry. 10.1007/978-3-030-50585-1_2.
About the Author
Dr. Sekoul Krastev
Sekoul is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. A decision scientist with a PhD in Decision Neuroscience from McGill University, Sekoul's work has been featured in peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at conferences around the world. Sekoul previously advised management on innovation and engagement strategy at The Boston Consulting Group as well as on online media strategy at Google. He has a deep interest in the applications of behavioral science to new technology and has published on these topics in places such as the Huffington Post and Strategy & Business.
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