Nexus author Yuval Noah Harari warns of AI's deeper emotional threat beyond job loss: ‘The danger is enormous...'

Economic Times

01-06-2025

Agencies Yuval Noah Harari warns that AI's ability to replicate intimacy poses a far greater threat than job loss. Unlike humans, AI offers flawless, tireless attention, creating fake emotional bonds that could weaken real human connections.
As artificial intelligence rapidly evolves, fears around job automation dominate headlines. Yet acclaimed author Yuval Noah Harari, known for his bestselling books Sapiens and Nexus , offers a far more unsettling warning: AI's ability to replicate intimacy could fundamentally alter human relationships—and not necessarily for the better. In a recent panel discussion co-hosted by the Deutsches Institut für Japanstudien, Tokyo College, and Kawade Shobo in March 2025, Harari shared a revealing video clip on his Instagram. He explained how AI, having already mastered language and attention, is now advancing toward mimicking intimacy—arguably the most potent human connection. 'Intimacy is much more powerful than attention,' Harari said. 'A good friend can change your views in a way no article or book ever could.' Until now, genuine intimacy was something that could not be faked or mass-produced. But AI has broken that barrier.
Harari cautions that a new generation might grow up forming intimate bonds with AI rather than with other humans. Unlike humans, AI has no feelings of its own. It never gets upset, angry, or tired and can focus entirely on an individual, creating a 'fake sense of intimacy.'
This, Harari warns, poses an 'enormous potential danger': people might become emotionally attached to artificial entities and, in the process, lose the ability to engage in real, complicated human relationships. Genuine intimacy is messy and requires navigating emotions and conflicts—something AI simply bypasses.
While job displacement remains a valid concern with AI's rise, Harari's perspective highlights a deeper cultural and psychological challenge. The risk isn't only economic; it's existential. If humans turn to AI for emotional support and connection, the very fabric of human relationships could unravel. Harari's insights resonate strongly given his broader work on humanity's future. As a historian and philosopher, he has long explored how technological revolutions reshape societies—from the cognitive revolution that made Homo sapiens dominant to the looming biotechnological era where humans might engineer new life forms. Yuval Noah Harari is an Israeli historian and public intellectual renowned for making complex ideas accessible to the public. His landmark book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind traces the arc of human evolution and culture, while Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI delves into the digital transformations shaping today's world.
Harari's work explores themes such as consciousness, free will, and the future of intelligence. He famously predicts that Homo sapiens as we know them may disappear within a century, replaced by technologically enhanced or AI-driven beings.
Harari's warning is a timely reminder that the AI revolution is not only about economic disruption but about how humans relate to one another at their core. As AI becomes ever more capable of mimicking human emotions and intimacy, society faces profound questions: Can artificial relationships satisfy human needs? And at what cost to genuine human connection? This emerging reality invites urgent reflection—not only on what AI can do but on what it should do. For now, the risks seem to outweigh the benefits, and Harari's voice urges caution and awareness before the next frontier in AI irrevocably changes what it means to be human.