India, Oct. 13 -- For years, one image has stayed with me: a dog in a cage. At first it fights to escape, scratching at the bars and whining at the shocks that come without warning. Then, slowly, it stops. Even when the door is left ajar, the animal does nothing. It has learned a terrible lesson - that the world is fixed, pain inevitable, effort pointless.

This classic psychology experiment was meant to illuminate learned helplessness. I have come to believe it now illuminates something else entirely: the future being built by artificial intelligence. The cage is no longer metal and visible; it is data - driven and everywhere. And, disturbingly, it is one we are building for ourselves.

Machines of Prediction, Not Imagination: We like to...