Introducing Intelligence Age

OpenAI's Strategic Futures team launched a blog called Intelligence Age to address how free societies should adapt to transformative AI while preserving individual rights and agency. The team identifies "concentration of power risks" as the most serious challenge posed by AI, arguing that advanced autonomous systems and machine intelligence could allow states to project force and collect revenue without relying on human cooperation, potentially undermining the balance of power that has historically depended on broad consent. The core concern is that without deliberate structural safeguards, individuals could lose meaningful agency and control over the technologies and institutions that shape their lives, even if democratic voting procedures continue. The team proposes guiding principles including maintaining individual autonomy in AI use, empowering individuals and small organizations through law rather than centralizing power, and ensuring human institutions retain primacy in directing world affairs.