The Ladder of Artificial Agency

• AI is reshaping how decisions are made, with different levels of agency distribution between humans and machines
• At the bottom, AI operates as pure technology amplifying human capabilities without much autonomy
• Higher up, AI acts as a tool or cognitive prosthetic directly shaping human thought processes
• AI can also function as a distinct team member or autonomous team within human organizations
• At the top, AI can serve as an autonomous trustee making real-world decisions with significant delegated agency
• This ladder highlights tensions between efficiency gains and human agency atrophy as we offload cognition to AI
• The key question is what agency we want to retain versus what we're willing to delegate to AI systems