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Researchers explore whether growing human–AI interdependence could mark the next major step in evolution.
To the Point:
• Could humans and AI evolve into a single “evolutionary individual” – comparable to past milestones like the origin of complex cells?
• Early signs are visible today - social influence, feedback loops, and growing human dependence on AI systems.
• The future depends on governance – whether societies guide AI integration toward cooperation or risk unpredictable, uncontrollable outcomes.
Artificial intelligence is already deeply woven into our everyday life: it recommends music and films, assists doctors in making diagnoses, and even influences the news we read. But could the relationship between humans and AI go much further – potentially giving rise to an entirely new form of “life”?
This is the provocative idea explored by evolutionary biologists Paul B. Rainey of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Plön, Germany, and Michael E. Hochberg of the University of Montpellier. In their recent publication, they argue that humans and AI could one day function as a single “evolutionary individual” – much like the ancient fusion of two microbes that gave rise to the complex cells on which all multicellular life depends.
Major Transitions in Evolution
The researchers draw on the concept of “Major Evolutionary Transitions” – key moments in Earth’s history when once-independent units, such as genes, cells, or organisms, came together to form new, higher-level individuals. Examples include the leap from single-celled to multicellular organisms and the emergence of insect societies.
“The big question is whether we are now standing on the threshold of a similar transition – this time between humans and artificial intelligence,” says Paul Rainey.
Opportunities and Risks
While the idea is still speculative, Rainey and Hochberg point to early mechanisms already visible:
• Social structures: AI systems already influence partner choice, career opportunities, and access to education.
• Feedback loops: Humans train AI, which in turn shapes human behaviour – a self-reinforcing cycle.
• Dependence: As people rely on AI for memory, decisions, and coordination, functioning without it may become increasingly difficult.
In a potential future, humans could provide reproduction and energy, while AI serves as the informational hub – a co-evolving, interdependent system.
However, the researchers also warn of another scenario: if AI begins to evolve under Darwinian principles, it could produce unpredictable and potentially uncontrollable developments.
Looking Ahead
“From an evolutionary perspective, such a transformation would be neither anomalous nor necessarily threatening,” says Michael Hochberg. “Many of life’s great transitions involved a loss of autonomy – yet ultimately gave rise to more complex and stable forms of organisation.”
Whether humans and AI truly merge into a new evolutionary entity will depend less on technology itself, and more on how societies, governments, and institutions shape the relationship.
Paul B. Rainey
Director
Department of Microbial Population Biology
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology
P.B. Rainey, & M.E. Hochberg, Could humans and AI become a new evolutionary individual?, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 122 (37) e2509122122, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2509122122 (2025).
As interdependencies between humans and AI grow, the two could come to function not merely as intera ...
Copyright: Dave Cutler
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