For tomorrow’s episode of The Insider I will be talking to Yuval Noah Harari. He’s a man of big ideas and bold predictions. His books, which have sold millions of copies, are bracing romps through great swathes of human history. Unlike many other historians, Mr Harari is willing to make equally sweeping assertions about what the future might entail. Every conversation I have had with him has been a mind-stretching experience. 

This week we have also been grappling with some fairly mind-stretching material in The Economist—our cover story, which will be published tomorrow, looks at whether AIs could become conscious and the dangers if they are treated as such. (You can see a draft of the cover design we’re planning to use below.) Mr Harari has thought deeply about the impact of artificial intelligence and I can’t think of a better person with whom to discuss how the AI era might reshape our societies, up-end power structures and, indeed, potentially change the nature of humanity itself. 

I want to start by getting a general sense of how troubled Mr Harari is by the prospect of an AI future—and how radically different he thinks it will be from today. Elon Musk, whom I interviewed a month ago, told me that in ten years time he expected AIs to have far surpassed human intelligence, that the world would be in “an age of amazing abundance” but that it is unlikely that humans will be in control. Does Mr Harari agree? I’d be surprised if he struck such a cheerful tone. “If we mishandle it”, he writes in his latest book, “Nexus”, “AI might extinguish not only the human dominion on earth but the light of consciousness itself, turning the universe into a realm of utter darkness.” “Nexus” also grapples with the question of who will hold the most power in an AI future and I’m keen to ask him about the conclusions he’s drawn. Why does he think AIs may end up in control? How will they do it? And what will it mean to be a human in an AI-controlled world?

To write this week’s cover story and its accompanying briefing, my colleagues have spent many hours studying and sparring over the topic of AI consciousness and whether AIs should ever be granted rights. I want to discuss where Mr Harari falls in this debate. He’s made it clear that he believes today’s AIs are more than just tools—they’re intelligent agents, but not conscious. In “Nexus”, though, he writes that “as computers become more intelligent, they might eventually develop consciousness and have some kind of subjective experiences.” What would it take for him to be convinced that models were sentient and experiencing subjectivity? And are we headed for a hybrid human-AI civilisation? I’ll put our readers’ perspectives to him, too. Do you think AI will ever be truly conscious? Please tell me by voting in our poll.

To close, we’ll return to the present. What does Mr Harari think should be the top priority in terms of shaping the technology today? Which political system is best set up to deal with AI: democracy or authoritarianism? And does his reading of history give him confidence that humans will have the wisdom needed to navigate this moment?

The interview will be available to watch from 6pm London time (1pm in New York) on Thursday. I’m always keen to hear what our readers think of our discussions. Once you’ve watched my conversation with Mr Harari, please write to me at insider@economist.com with your thoughts and feedback. And finally, a quick housekeeping note: Inside Defence will be taking a brief summer recess next week, so you won’t hear from us via email on Monday and there will be no show the following day. This newsletter will land in your inboxes as usual on Wednesday in advance of Thursday’s discussion show, and Inside Defence will be back with a special episode in September.