AI and the Collapse of State Power | Miles Taylor

Artificial intelligence poses an existential threat to modern civilization, fundamentally altering the relationship between the individual and the state. Unlike previous national security challenges, AI empowers individuals with nation-state-level capabilities, such as automated cyber-vulnerability discovery and potential bioweapon development, rendering traditional centralized governance increasingly obsolete. Because governments cannot compete with the private sector for top-tier technical talent or effectively regulate recursive, decentralized technologies, institutional responses are lagging. The current trajectory suggests a shift toward more confederal, networked models of security where local autonomy replaces reliance on federal institutions. As the barrier to entry for destructive technology drops, the primary security risk transitions from great power conflict to internal societal instability, necessitating a radical reimagining of how democracy functions in an era where any individual can exert transformative, potentially catastrophic influence.