The End of Necessary Adulthood: A Theory of Human Agency Under Omnipresent Superintelligence
Abstract
Advanced-AI debates usually ask whether machines will remain aligned with human values. This paper examines the reciprocal question: whether humans would retain the capacities required for meaningful agency if artificial systems became persistently more competent, reliable and pervasive than human decision-makers.
It develops the end of necessary adulthood hypothesis as a conditional theory, not a forecast. Functional adulthood is defined through consequential authorship, judgment under uncertainty, care, answerability, self-regulation and collective agency.
The framework identifies a five-part mechanism—competence concentration, rational deference, responsibility displacement, intergenerational attenuation and institutional lock-in—and distinguishes three rival trajectories: infantilization, liberation and bifurcation.
The responsibility-displacement loop.
Conceptual mechanism. Directional relations are hypotheses, not estimated effects.
advantageSuperior outcomes
deferenceLocally prudent choice
displacementReduced practice
equilibriumInstitutional dependence
CENTRAL QUESTION What happens to human self-government when a superior system reliably carries the burdens through which judgment, responsibility and adult agency are learned?
AI safety has a human-side condition.
The paper separates welfare delivery from preservation of human agency. A benevolent and highly reliable system could protect people while gradually removing the occasions, incentives and authority through which responsible agency is cultivated.
- DefinesFunctional adulthood as a responsibility-bearing capacity
- ExplainsA reinforcing responsibility-displacement mechanism
- ComparesInfantilization, liberation and bifurcation
- DerivesSeven testable propositions and disconfirmation criteria
Cite this preprint
Braun, N. (2026). The End of Necessary Adulthood: A Theory of Human Agency Under Omnipresent Superintelligence (Version 1.1). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21670478