Humanity is not a fixed point, but moving

Choi Jin-seok

The author is a principal of the Saemal Saemomjit School.

Since the emergence of artificial intelligence, many people have warned that it will “destroy humanity” or “threaten human nature.” Whenever a new technology appears, those trapped in old frameworks speak of humanity’s collapse while attempting to delay the future and remain in the past. Even before AI, they tended to view technological civilization itself as corrosive to humanity. In reality, they are simply confined within an outdated understanding of what humanity is.

Boston Dynamics, the U.S. robotics company in which Hyundai Motor Group holds a stake, released footage on May 18 showing its humanoid robot Atlas autonomously lifting and moving a refrigerator weighing about 23 kilograms (50 pounds) through AI-based learning. [BOSTON DYNAMICS]

Human nature is not a biologically fixed constant. It is a history of revelation and expansion shaped by the direction of civilization. Humanity always exists, but its form and substance change across eras as its territory widens. The evolution of humanity resembles the gradual discovery of previously unread shelves within a vast library. What had once been obscured by instrumental instincts, divine authority or rigid rationalism later emerged as newly recognized aspects of human identity. Traits once dismissed as flaws in one era often become central expressions of humanity in another.

Seen this way, the current technological transition is not the destruction of humanity but the unveiling of dimensions that previous systems concealed. Throughout history, technological progress has not erased humanity. Instead, it has repeatedly pushed societies to reconsider what it means to be human.

The Industrial Revolution revealed this dynamic clearly. At the time, machines appeared to many people as monsters that threatened skilled craftsmanship and human survival itself. As portrayed in Charlie Chaplin’s “Modern Times” (1936), workers tightening bolts in rhythm with machines no longer seemed like thinking beings but mechanical components. Cries that “humanity has been destroyed” emerged from this anxiety.

Yet the arrival of machines paradoxically uncovered truths about humanity that earlier eras rarely considered. Machines liberated people from some forms of repetitive physical labor, revealing the value of free time, creativity and intellectual exploration. Before industrialization, labor for survival had been regarded as inseparable from human existence. Mechanization allowed people to imagine identities beyond work itself.

Likewise, in a world where everything became standardized through industrial production, individuality emerged more clearly as a defining human trait. Human uniqueness became more visible precisely because machines made everything else uniform.

The fear surrounding AI today follows a similar pattern. AI increasingly appears capable of mechanizing thought itself, pressuring humans with flawless logic and immense computational power. Critics insist that the difference between industrial machines and AI is fundamental. In one sense, they are correct. Every major technology represents a new dimension of progress. Machines during the Industrial Revolution also transformed society in ways people could scarcely imagine beforehand.

What is now becoming clear is that humanity cannot be defined merely by knowledge accumulation or computational speed. Instead, qualities long hidden beneath the shadow of information are coming into sharper focus: the courage to ask questions, the recklessness to propose hypotheses, the irrational willingness to immerse oneself in myths, empathy toward the suffering of others and even hesitation itself.

Machines did not destroy humanity. They stripped away outdated shells of humanity and exposed more essential aspects hidden within. Industrial machines replaced human muscles and elevated the importance of intellect. If AI now begins replacing portions of human intellect, society must ask what new human value will emerge most brightly in response.

Protesters demonstrate outside a federal courthouse during proceedings in Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI in Oakland, California, on May 12. [AFP/YONHAP]

People struggling on the margins to answer that question may ultimately establish the new center of civilization. The important thing is not to fall behind during this transition.

Those trapped within fixed definitions of humanity see technology as an invading force threatening walls that must be defended. Because they view humanity as static, they fail to recognize how new technologies can expand the horizons of human thought. Instead, they mistake the turbulence of transition for civilizational collapse and place ethical suspicion at the forefront of every discussion.

Ethical reflection is necessary, but ethics should function as a compass guiding technology rather than a barricade blocking its arrival. Those who devote themselves only to fearing or condemning technology cannot become architects of the structures shaping the future. They eventually remain merely consumers or record keepers living at the margins of the world technology creates.

There is no need for fear. Humanity may instead be entering a deeper and more authentic stage of itself. This is the moment not to retreat from AI, but to enter it boldly.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.