When Algorithms Inherit Our Trust
For Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari, the most precious commodity on Earth is trust, and in today’s world it is leaving the human sphere and flowing into machines. He argues that a striking pattern is underway: people no longer have confidence in one another, yet they are ready to trust artificial intelligence. Once a defining feature of human bonds, trust now increasingly belongs to the algorithms that organize contemporary life, he concludes.
Cryptocurrency and News Show the Pattern
Harari finds the pattern in cryptocurrencies, where suspicion of conventional banks and financial systems coexists with deep faith in computer code. The same applies to news: people are skeptical of journalists and editors, but they still turn to algorithmically selected stories. According to a Reuters Institute study covering 48 countries, public confidence in the news stands at 37 percent, the lowest level recorded since 2015. For the first time, social networks and video platforms have surpassed the websites of traditional publishers as the main route to news. Trust levels are even lower for algorithm-dependent news distribution: 22 percent for social media and 20 percent for chatbots.
“The most important asset in the world is trust. It is more important than oil, money, electricity, and chips. The probable scenario is that trust migrates from humans to machines: people will cease trusting one another and will trust only AI. Many people have utterly lost faith in journalists and editors, but they continue to consume news from algorithms. The very people who don’t believe you have limitless trust in the algorithm of their feed. Trust did not vanish—it shifted from humans to AI,” Harari said.
These observations reveal how deeply perceptions of trust have changed as algorithms grow more powerful. The collapse of confidence in old information channels and institutions can have serious social consequences, such as the spread of false information and a more divided public sphere.
As media and finance grow more dependent on algorithmic systems, urgent questions arise about how social life will operate in the future and what ethics should guide the use of artificial intelligence to manage trust. These transformations may alter the foundation of society and change the way people see both information and each other. They also challenge the assumption that trust must rest on human judgment and accountability.