Jeanette Winterson has been exploring speculative futures for over a decade, with novels such as The Stone Gods and 12 Bytes that blend climate collapse, ageless humans, and AI-enabled robots. She now describes artificial intelligence, which she prefers to label alternative intelligence, as an evolutionary leap that exceeds the role of a mere tool. According to Winterson, this moment marks a decisive shift in humanity’s story.
She compares the present juncture with the Industrial Revolution, noting that prior to that era change followed natural processes, whereas humanity began massive intervention. The earlier transformation generated extreme wealth for a minority while plunging the majority into hardship, a pattern she warns could be amplified by AI through a permanent underclass, global income gaps, and the growing carbon footprint of data centres.
Winterson insists that AI itself is not the root of a dystopian outcome; rather, outdated political and economic thinking will shape the trajectory. She argues that the 19th-century belief that endless, meaningless labor benefits the soul is a myth designed to maintain hierarchy. In her view, current economic models are ill-suited to the new reality, risking a missed chance to redefine work.
Opinions on how to prepare for the AI era diverge. Alex Karp, chief executive of Palantir, recently suggested that future security rests on either vocational training or neurodivergent traits. By contrast, Daniela Amodei, president of Anthropic and a literature graduate, emphasized that humanities study will become increasingly vital because the qualities that define humanity will gain prominence, not diminish.
The United Kingdom’s recent cuts to humanities positions illustrate growing institutional pressure. In the year ending December 2024, 4,000 roles in social sciences, humanities, and arts were eliminated. Exeter University announced a reduction of 150 posts, affecting eight out of ten faculty members in those fields, while Nottingham University plans to discontinue modern languages and music degrees, prompting warnings that the discipline could be extinguished.
Advocates argue that preserving the humanities is essential to avoid a generation lacking cultural and historical literacy. A professor quoted in New York Magazine warned that large numbers of graduates will enter the labour market essentially illiterate, both in basic reading and in understanding their own and others’ cultures. An MIT report echoed this concern, describing the risk as a generational “cognitive surrender.”