OPINION: Artificial intelligence risks dumb outcomes unless politicians act now

Legally obligating companies to grant displaced workers equity equal to a year’s salary would spread AI’s windfall, without resorting to UBI.

Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash

In the febrile markets of early 2026, few documents have stirred as much unease as the Citrini Research memo released this week.

Framed as a “thought exercise in financial history from the future,” the report by analysts Alap Shah and his team painted a chilling hypothetical of a 2028 “Global Intelligence Crisis.”

At its core, the report envisions artificial intelligence’s unchecked ascent triggering mass white-collar displacement and economic stasis. In the scenario, unemployment surges to 10.2 per cent in the US, as AI agents supplant coders, analysts, and intermediaries.

If AI cannot generate broader societal gains alongside productivity gains, it doesn’t justify the label “intelligence” at all — it becomes self-cannibalising capital. A parasitical “anti-intelligence” system.