Artificial Intelligence Issue

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-AI, 13 Apr 2026

The Nation - TRANSCEND Media Service

10 Apr 2026 – Almost a decade ago, Robert W. McChesney and I wrote our book on automation, robotification, machine learning, and what is now commonly referred to as AI. We titled it People Get Ready: The Fight Against a Jobless Economy and a Citizenless Democracy, which summed up our sense that the technological revolutions that were on the horizon would require a dramatic renewal of citizen engagement and government oversight. Our fear then was that, without pushback from the American people and their elected representatives, tech bro billionaires would forge a future that served nothing more than their bottomline interests.

While much of that has been true, there is also hope to be found in some of our leaders. Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Ro Khanna have stepped up to raise vital questions about how to assure that the evolution of artificial intelligence puts people above profits. Both Sanders and Khanna are contributors to our new special issue on AI, as are many of the best thinkers of our time on technology, economics, and society.

This is not the last time The Nation will address the technological revolution that is already raising fundamental concerns about the future of work, surveillance, and existential questions of war and peace. We will be in the thick of these debates, arguing for a future in which we take the steps that are necessary to assure that we can all Stay Human. So read our May issue, subscribe to the magazine if you haven’t yet, and follow along with us as we watch the future unfold.

—John Nichols – Executive Editor, The Nation

Hand pointing at glowing digital brain. Artificial intelligence and future concept. 3D Rendering

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What We Need to Ask Ourselves About AI – Seven questions to resolve before we let this fast-moving technology run rampant.  –Sen. Bernie Sanders

AI for the People – A manifesto for an AI revolution that works for the many, not just the billionaires.  –Rep. Ro Khanna

San Diego’s AI Battlefield Heats Up – The city is at the forefront of the fight against using big tech to surveill residents. But AI poses new threats.  –Sasha Abramsky

The Great AI Grift – Tech leaders want you to believe that AI is the key to a new golden age. The reality looks more like a bold, government-backed heist.  –Susannah Glickman, Amba Kak, Sarah Myers West

The Pentagon Is Going “AI First” – The US military is placing the technology at the center of its mission, and the human costs promise to be staggering.  –Janet Abou-Elias, William D. Hartung

As AI Breathes Down Our Necks, It’s Time for a Luddite Renaissance – Nineteenth-century textile workers longed to stay human in a machine age. So do we. –John Nichols

What Happens When “Your Honor” Is a Robot? – The age of artificial judges is fast approaching. What will that mean for justice? –Elie Mystal

The Death of an AI Whistleblower – Suchir Balaji sought to expose OpenAI’s data abuses. Did it come at the expense of his own life?  –Jacob Silverman

This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 13 Apr 2026.

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