The BasePeople

Peter Lewis

columnist; non-executive chair of Essential, a progressive strategic communications and research company

Titles as the sources gave them. In 1 entry, with 4 checked quotations.

What they said

Newest first. Each quotation was found word for word in the source.

“The “inevitability doctrine” demands we concede rather than properly explore and negotiate these trade-offs. This facade of democracy leads to its populist backlash.”
The biggest threat from AI is the sense that we have no say in it. To that I say game onThe Guardian, October 13, 2026. Speaking as: Other. The column's definition of the inevitability doctrine and the political backlash the author says it feeds.
“The biggest danger to our democracy this technology poses is not in the cynical misuse of an untested and unregulated deployment (although this will be hugely destructive) but in the broader sense that we have no say in what is happening to us.”
The biggest threat from AI is the sense that we have no say in it. To that I say game onThe Guardian, October 13, 2026. Speaking as: Other. The column's central claim, stated near the end after the Australian examples of pushback.
“In our parliament over the coming weeks there will be fights to land privacy reform, a digital duty of care, standards on datacentres and rules on how governments will use the technology on its citizens.”
The biggest threat from AI is the sense that we have no say in it. To that I say game onThe Guardian, October 13, 2026. Speaking as: Other. Lewis's forecast, in a column about Australia, of fights ahead in parliament.
“But the resistance many of us feel is real and, so long as we remain a democracy, it will be at the ballot box where we will have the opportunity to demand those who purport to lead us challenge this sense of the inevitable. Because here’s the thing: inevitability is also a choice.”
The biggest threat from AI is the sense that we have no say in it. To that I say game onThe Guardian, October 13, 2026. Speaking as: Other. The column's closing argument: that resistance can be exercised at the ballot box and that inevitability is a choice.

In the Base

Every entry they appear in.

  1. EssayThe GuardianWrote it

    The biggest threat from AI is the sense that we have no say in it. To that I say game on

    In a Guardian opinion column, Peter Lewis argues that tech companies and the White House promote a sense of AI's inevitability that shuts citizens out of decisions. Lewis cites Australian pushback, including a campaign against Coles's partnership with Palantir, creators seeking compensation and Firmus's abandoned share listing, as signs that inevitability is a choice.