AI: Between Promise and Peril

AI: Between Promise and Peril

3 September 2025

Artificial Intelligence is one of the most exciting and disruptive innovations of our time. It is unstoppable, and for those who master it, the possibilities are endless. From streamlining complex calculations to unlocking new levels of creativity, AI already acts as an extension of our intelligence—an assistant that allows us to achieve what once seemed impossible.

And yet, the story of AI is not just one of miracles. It also has a shadow side, one that many fanatics prefer to dismiss or ridicule whenever raised. But ignoring these risks would be a mistake. History teaches us that every powerful innovation—from nuclear energy to industrial automation—has carried both opportunity and danger. AI is no different.

The Myth of Replacement

A recurring argument is that AI will never truly replace humans because it lacks a soul. AI lacks empathy, intuition, and conscience. Machines can calculate, but they cannot feel. That is true—and it should reassure us. But the absence of a soul does not mean the consequences of AI are not real. Algorithms already shape lives in profound, sometimes devastating ways.

Lessons from the Netherlands

The Dutch Toeslagenaffaire showed how blind reliance on algorithms, bureaucracy, and data can destroy lives. Innocent citizens were branded as fraudsters, without space for human judgment or compassion. Similarly, the DUO scandal revealed how students were wrongfully accused of fraud, jeopardizing their futures.

In both cases, the issue was not “thinking machines” but human institutions handing over control to systems they barely understood. The correction only came when victims spoke up, the media amplified their voices, and parliamentary committees intervened.

What If Resistance Becomes Impossible?

So far, the balance has been maintained because citizens have been able to fight back. But what happens if resistance is no longer possible?

• In warfare, AI-driven drones and autonomous weapons already threaten to take humans out of the decision-making loop. Algorithms act faster than generals, but without a moral compass.

• In a democracy, where it often takes decades for discrimination and injustice to be acknowledged, algorithmic decision-making could lock in biases for generations before society even notices.

At that point, the human corrective mechanism collapses.

Curaçao’s Vulnerability

This brings us to Curaçao and the wider Kingdom. Here, we often operate behind polished façades: neatly written documents, big declarations, plenty of bluster—but little substance. Content is too frequently sacrificed to style. And in such an environment, AI and algorithms could quietly creep into governance without anyone noticing, let alone challenging them.

Where citizens in larger democracies may organize pushbacks, our lack of strong counter voices leaves us more exposed. If appearances matter more than accountability, we risk losing not only control but also our voice. On Curaçao, the danger is not a dramatic battle with AI—it is that the struggle may never be fought at all.

Between Fanaticism and Fear

Some argue that warnings about AI are merely fear-mongering. After all, we live in the best time in history, with greater comfort, longer lives, and more advanced tools than ever before. Why worry?

But this attitude is itself a risk. When climate activists warned about global warming fifty years ago, they were mocked. Today, we are living with the consequences. When nuclear scientists warned about the dangers of atomic energy, they were not trying to halt progress, but rather to highlight the need for responsibility.

The same applies to AI. To celebrate its brilliance while silencing its critics is not progress, it is denial.

The Real Threat

The real threat of AI is not that it will “take our souls” or even that it will become conscious. The danger lies in our own willingness to hand over responsibility and moral judgment to systems we do not fully understand.

AI is not the enemy. Blind trust is.

If we want AI to enhance human intelligence rather than replace it, we must insist on accountability, transparency, and, above all, the preservation of our human voice.

Otherwise, we risk a silent surrender—one in which we don’t lose to AI, but to ourselves.

Miguel Goede