Building a Human Resilience Infrastructure for the AI Age

The vast majority of expert respondents in a 2026 survey by the Imagining the Digital Future Center said humans need to build a highly coordinated resilience infrastructure for the AI Age to counterbalance the human and systemic challenges posed by widespread AI adoption. Some 82% said AI will play a significantly larger role in shaping people’s lives and key societal functions in the next 10 years or less. They urged an “institutions-first” resilience agenda because the most significant problems arise from a life-encircling AI infrastructure. They said it will take an all-encompassing systems response by leaders of all walks of life to serve humanity’s best interests in an all-encompassing AI environment. More than 160 of the 386 experts wrote detailed essay responses explaining their points of view. These experts from around the world noted that AI is quickly becoming the invisible operating system of society, shaping how opportunity is distributed, services are delivered, risks are managed and human rights are experienced. Most said the traditional resilience strategies humans have employed for millennia – focused on individual “grit,” and after-the-fact personal adaptation – are not enough to help humans flourish as they adjust to an AI-infused future.  These experts predicted: 

•  AI’s larger role: 82% said AI will have a significantly larger role in shaping our daily lives and key societal systems in the next 10 years or less; 13% said that level of change is 20-30 years away.
• AI guiding decisions: 56% said that at the time they expect AI will be significantly more advanced it will influence, guide or control “nearly all” or “most” human activities and decisions (another 24% said AI will influence, guide or control nearly half of activities and decisions).
• Resilience worries: 45% said humans will be only “a little” or “not at all” resilient in the face of that level of change. About half said people will be somewhat to very resilient.  Of note: Many experts wrote in their essay responses that many to most humans will passively accept the influence of AI systems. Thus, these people will not feel any need to be resilient.
• Satisfaction concerns: only 33% said people will be more satisfied than dissatisfied with AI systems at that time; 31% said people will be more dissatisfied than satisfied; 33% said people will have an equal amount of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with AI systems.