“AIdeology” – research coins a radical new description of AI and how it is shaping societal beliefs
Posted on: 12 November 2025
Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a mere technological tool. It has already evolved into a new ideology — a system of values and beliefs that is shaping how society understands progress, sustainability, and even humanity itself.
According to Dr Federico Cugurullo, an associate professor and human geographer with a background in philosophy, from Trinity College Dublin’s School of Natural Sciences, it is time we coin the term “AIdeology.”
In a recently published perspective in the international journal, Antipode, Dr Cugurullo proposes that AI has evolved into a cultural and political force influencing global worldviews.
Through a fusion of Marxian philosophy and human geography, he introduces “AIdeology” as the idea that AI not only shapes technology and physical infrastructures, but also reshapes how people imagine cities, societies, and the future of work.
Unlike previous research that treats AI as a technical phenomenon, this study reframes it as a belief system with social, cultural, political as well as spatial consequences — visible in the rise of AI urbanismand futuristic mega-projects like Saudi Arabia’s Neom.
AIdeology advances three widely held views that are essentially myths:
- AI will save the planet — while hiding the environmental costs of data centres, mineral extraction, and e-waste.
- AI is becoming human — as corporations and governments promote lifelike robots and digital assistants to deceitfully appear conscious, and trustworthy.
- AI will end work and capitalism — promising freedom from labour, even as invisible “ghost workers” quietly train and maintain these systems for minimal pay.
Dr Cugurullo warns that these narratives mask deep inequalities. “AIdeology can sell us dreams of progress while concealing exploitation — of both people and the planet,” he said.
“We need to recognise that there are significant discrepancies between the way reality is represented by AIdeology and the actual order of things. If we’re not careful AIdeology can make us live in a capitalist fantasy obscuring the fact that most of us are being exploited. Think for example about how our behavioural data are constantly captured, without consent or remuneration, to train AI systems.”
In combination, the implications are profound. If AI continues to shape our belief systems, societies risk reproducing old hierarchies under new technological guises. Yet, as the paper concludes, this ideology can be resisted and reimagined.
“This research isn’t necessarily anti-AI,” Dr Cugurullo says. “It’s a reminder that we must decide what kind of intelligence — and what kind of future — we want to build, and more democratic and socially just solutions are possible.”
“This would require a radical rethink in who designs and governs technology, though. Instead of leaving AI development to powerful corporations or authoritarian regimes, AIs would need to be co-created with citizens, communities, and public institutions — ensuring that innovation serves collective needs rather than private profit.”
For example, Open-Source systems, ethical data governance, and participatory urban planning could anchor this shift, enabling cities to harness AI without reproducing patterns of surveillance, exploitation, and environmental harm.
The published paper can be read on the journal website.
