What do humans do when intelligence becomes cheap and available everywhere? That question guided my talk at The Future of Humanities in the UAE at American University in Dubai on October 2, 2026.

I discuss the growing capabilities and falling costs of AI, then turn to the distinction between intelligence and agency: what changes when a system can act on a goal? The talk makes a case for consilience, bringing technical precision and humanistic judgment into the same decision. As more tasks become possible to delegate, deciding what we value remains our responsibility.