Image courtesy of Josie Norton

We talk endlessly about AI. What we ignore is “Artificial Stupidity”, systems that scale human blind spots, biases, and short-term incentives at breakneck speed. As we approach 2026, three forces are converging dangerously. The signs are not subtle. They are flashing red.

1. Artificial Stupidity At Scale
   We laud artificial intelligence as the pinnacle of human ingenuity, yet the very systems designed to augment us are already demonstrating stupidity at scale. These are not quaint glitches. They are systemic failures. AI systems misinterpret context, underperform in real-world edge cases, and propagate misinformation that erodes truth itself. Even when AI does not misbehave intentionally, flawed objectives and poor data can produce outcomes that are unpredictably harmful, from biased decisions to unsafe actions. The rush to deploy powerful models often outpaces safeguards, creating windows where automated systems make life-and-death decisions with little transparency. This is not merely technological “bugginess.” It is a structural vulnerability, artificial stupidity embedded in global systems that shape security, economies, and human perception.
2. The War Of Civilization
   This is not traditional warfare. It is cognitive warfare, disinformation, cyber escalation, and algorithmic decision-making where escalation moves faster than diplomacy. Truth becomes a casualty before the first missile is launched. Invisible cyber campaigns, hybrid warfare, and cognitive assaults blur the line between peace and war. These “shadow conflicts” destabilize democracies with a subtlety that makes retaliation ambiguous at best. This is the War of Civilization, fought not just over territory or seas, but over truth, trust, race, faith, and narrative sovereignty.
3. Global Resource Destabilization
   The historical roots of conflict have always traced back to scarcity, and in 2026, resource competition intensifies. The explosive demand for critical minerals for energy transitions and AI technologies alike sits at the heart of geopolitical tension. Nations are jockeying for supply chains and territorial advantage. Resource wars do not always wear uniforms. They begin in boardrooms, across seas of rare-earth minerals, and through pipelines of data and power.

Concepts like the Vulnerable World Hypothesis remind us that a civilization capable of creating disruptive technologies may also be uniquely fragile. That fragility is already unfolding quietly, structurally, and asymmetrically. The real risk is not “superintelligent machines,” but under-governed technology combined with overconfident societies and ineffective leadership.