When Humanity No Longer Needs Humanity
According to the American Psychological Association, intelligence is “The ability to derive information, learn from experience, adapt to the environment, understand, and correctly utilize thought and reason.” Today, modern computing systems are able to mimic certain aspects of human cognition. Capabilities that were for the most part, once exclusively attributed to humans, are now nearly flawlessly being executed by machines. Detecting patterns, processing language and solving incredibly complex mathematical questions are some of the abilities AI (Artificial Intelligence).
In September 2026, OpenAI announced that a system coordinating approximately 10,000 AI agents had produced a mathematical proof addressing the Navier–Stokes Millennium Prize Problem, a question that had remained unresolved for nearly 90 years. They were able to do this in a matter of hours using a new artificial intelligence model and a horde of “AI agents”.
AI agents are different from an LLM (Large Language Model such as Claude, Grok, ChatGPT) in the sense that these agents can perform tasks independently from human operators completely autonomously. These agents are given a particular task and are incredibly persistent and laser focused on the completion of said task. Furthermore, even though each agent is an “individual” , they can be one of many in a numerous group. Think of their cooperation with each other much like bees in a swarm, ants in a colony or termites in their nest.
This is not an isolated incident either. AI has contributed to several major scientific discoveries, particularly in medicine, biology, chemistry, mathematics, and materials science. For instance, it facilitated the discovery of a personalized mRNA melanoma vaccine called “intismeran”. This vaccine has results of provenly lowering the risk of recurrence or death in melanoma patients by ~49%. The published research by Moderna and Merck specifically detailed their use of a machine-learning algorithm to select patient-specific neoantigens.
In reference to my other article about purchasing a Tesla, the FSD (Full Self Driving) that blew me away, is an agentic technology powered by Tesla’s neural network. This network is being built up every second of the day around the clock, by each and every single Tesla and the spatial data they gather on the road. The many cameras theyre equipped with capture video of the vehicle's surroundings while the neural networks interpret road geometry, vehicles, pedestrians, traffic signals, and other relevant information. The system then evaluates how the driving environment may evolve and determines an appropriate driving trajectory. The system then translates its decisions into steering, acceleration, and braking commands. This is what our eyes and brain do while we drive! Tesla's technology increasingly learns driving behavior directly from the examples it encounters on the road and develops itself recursively. The more data it collects, the more miles it drives, the better it becomes. The better it becomes, the more miles it drives which feed it even more data. You get the picture?
History tells us that the human species has always looked to complete tasks faster, easier and more effectively by leveraging tools. This desire is what ultimately turned us into the apex predator despite our unimpressive physical stature and composition relative to other far more formidable creatures. What we lack physically, we make up for with our intelligence, language, culture and ability to collaborate towards common goals with even strangers. Humans have been able to have dominion over the many species of world, brought nature in conformity to our imagination, solved famine and eradicated plagues. Without the technology we have been able to develop, none of this would have been possible.
So, where are we now? Somehow, we have managed to imbue rocks (silicon) with something resembling our own minds and given them the ability to "think." As humans, we've always been biologically limited in our ability to process information. Our senses are only so strong, our brains are only so large, and there really wasn't much we could do about it. Setting aside the biological limits, collaboration amongst people has also been incredibly limited due to factors such as religion, politics, language etc. Regardless of these variables, humans have been able to overcome limitations imposed on us by our biology by working together and leveraging increasingly more advanced tools. Throughout history, individual achievement has depended, to varying degrees, on the knowledge, abilities, and cooperation of others. We needed one another to accomplish things that would otherwise have been impossible on our own. In a sense, our limitations forced us to set aside our differences and work alongside others toward something greater than ourselves. Cooperation wasn't merely a virtue but a necessity.
What happens when humans are no longer the most capable problem-solvers on the planet? What happens when a legion of AI Agents with no language, cultural, political or religious differences set their “minds” to a task and collaborate on the problems far more efficiently than we can? When we discover a breakthrough in pharmaceutics for instance, we have intellectual property laws to protect the hard work of those who took risks to create new drugs. This protects the efforts of the creator of the drug and incentivizes entrepreneurs to produce new medicines but allows them to effectively have a sort of monopoly on a particular therapeutic. AI agents are not motivated by money, sex or power. They do not have egos. Their behavior is driven by math, code, and objective functions. When designed to cooperate, they can share discoveries, build upon one another's work, and pursue solutions without many of the personal motivations and social barriers that complicate human collaboration.
Now for the first time in human history, we're developing something that could fundamentally change the dynamics of human relationships. With artificial intelligence, an individual may increasingly accomplish what once required the collective efforts of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people. In collective efforts, there is so much we learn from each other. People who work in teams learn a wide range of social skills, increase their self-awareness and sharpen their ability to communicate. It makes us better people to go through adversity in solving issues collectively. After all, civilized society was built on which societies contained the most individuals that could best organize and collaborate amongst large groups towards a common goal. Is this dynamic worth preserving?
All that being said, it raises a question I find far more interesting than whether AI will take our jobs:
We have spent thousands of years overcoming the limitations that forced us to depend on one another. But what if, in overcoming them, we tug on the thread that unravels the very fabric of society?
I'm Enzo Cespedes-Correa, a financial advisor based in Tampa, Florida, with an interest in the intersection of finance and technology. You can learn more about me on my About page or read my other article on How I Ended Up Buying The Car I Swore I'd Never Buy.
