What impact will AI have on the Western world over the next ten to twenty years?
November 06, 2025.
#3: Question asked on November 05, 2025:
11/5/2025 15:17 Artificial intelligence (AI) has received a lot of attention over the past two years. Some people see it as a force for good, while others predict that AI will take most of the jobs. In the worst-case scenario, some people even see AI as an existential threat to the human race. What impact will AI have on the Western world over the next ten to twenty years?
Please see the background essay for additional information regarding this question.
Hexagrams received were:
1) 16.Sun / Decrease (損 Sǔn) with changing line 6, and
2) 7. Lin / Approach (臨 Lín)
41. Sun / Decrease
THE JUDGMENT DECREASE. combined with sincerityBrings about supreme good fortune
Without blame.
One may be persevering in this.
It furthers one to undertake something.
How is this to be carried out?
One may use two small bowls for the sacrifice.
THE LINES
Nine at the top means::
If one is increased without depriving others,
There is no blame.
Perseverance brings good fortune.
It furthers one to undertake something.
One obtains servants
But no longer has a separate home.
19. Lin / Approach
THE JUDGMENT
APPROACH. has supreme success.
Perseverance furthers.
When the eighth month comes,
There will be misfortune.
Short discussion of the answer
Original hexagram
The first hexagram received is hexagram Decrease which is believed to be modified version of the hexagram #11 泰 (Tài), which is one of the most auspicious hexagrams in the Yi Jing. Tài (泰) is named Peace, Harmony... the image shows communion of Heaven and Earth, their perfect communication is resulting in harmony through and through. Hexagram 11's lower trigram is Heaven, it exerts its influence upwards, the upper trigram is Earth naturally projecting its power downwards - that way harmonious communication between Kun above and Qian below results in most favourable conditions for life to thrive.
However when the line number three (top line of the lower trigram) which is strong, full line of Qian trigram moves up to replace the sixth line (top line of the upper trigram) and the sixth weak broken line drops down and becomes the third line (the top line of the lower trigram), their switching of the positions creates Decrease hexagram, hexagram number 41.
The firm and strong (lower trigram) is decreased for the benefit of the weak and yielding (upper trigram). During those times "the noble man checks his anger and smothers his desire." we are told by the Yi Jing. These are fortunate times in the long run however Decrease requires frugality and perseverance when in the thick of it.
Even though the hexagram name (Decrease) may suggest loss which is not desirable, the judgement promises supreme good fortune, without blame. Why is that? Because when those below who are strong share what they have with the weak above it is believed to be beneficial if it is done with sincerity. Sincerity is the key here, without sincerity Decrease is a loss which definitely comes with regret.
The moving line, the top line is speaking about increase, that is because decrease with sincerity taken to its extreme (the sixth line is the final line in the hexagram) turns into its opposite which is increase. The sixth line increased by moving from the third position to the top of the hexagram.
I think this image is used by the Yi to describe how AI was created: if we understand the third line (the top line of the lower trigram) as human intelligence or products of human intelligence such as books, art and other forms of creative expression (videos, movies etc) then the AI as we know it today came about by sifting through mountains of records of human intelligence (books, internet content etc) and looked for patterns in it. Once those patterns were found and understood, AI was able to create new patterns based on that and this is how we have Language Learning Models (LLM) such as ChatGPT capable of carrying conversations in several languages today.
So, the image of this hexagram is showing us how the upper trigram is increasing its intelligence based on the training on the lower trigram's intelligence (firm line moving from thrird position to the sixth position).
AI is human intelligence elevated to the new level, without decreasing human intelligence - that is what the text of the sisth line says.
So is the push to AI everything (as it seems to be the case now) done with full sincerity? I do not think so.
The top trigram is called Gèn (艮 ) Bound, Mountain (山) and it is symbol of stopping, keeping still or controling or subduing.
The lower trigram is called Duì (兌) Open, Swamp/Lake (澤) also Joyus. It can also be seen as the large mass of people who are not capable of critical thinking (since the top line is broken).
Resulting hexagram
Hexagram number 19 is named Lín (臨), which is translated into English as "Approaching" (other translations include Nearing, Overseeing, To Look down upon etc). Its inner/lower trigram is ☱ Duì (兌 ) open, (澤) swamp/lake, and its outer/upper trigram is ☷ Kūn (坤) field, (地) Earth.
This hexagram is often described as Overseeing or Watching over. Someone of low rank is rising and becoming a powerful leader.
Happy obedience is achieved through obtaining trust from those below, thus no one disobeys.
Legge says about this hexagram: "But Lin denotes the approach of authority, - to inspect, to confront or to rule... The meaning of the concluding sentence is given in the Appendix I as simply being - that. 'the advancing power will decay in no long time.' "
Summary and conclusion
At the present time AI is a big deal - it is towering as a mountain next to the lake (that is the image of Decrease) and hexagram name also suggests there will be decrease in many aspects of human experience: some people will lose their jobs, that is true. More importantly people are likely to lose their abilities such as writing skills, problem solving, possibly even reading (as they start verbally conversing with AI chatbots) etc. Dumbing down of the general population is likely to intensify by prevalence of the AI technology. Answers to most common questions will be readily available to everyone.
So decrease will be happening however success is promised if such decrease is accepted with sincere heart. That is not likely to happen simply because those who are generating the push behind the AI development may not have sincere hearts and the best interests of ordinary people in their minds. More than likely AI will be used for total surveillance and control of people. Trigram Mountain is a symbol for the force that arrests movement, development, normal flow of things... On one hand Mountain is an obstacle in front of the Lake however it is also its perfect complement: the firm top line of the upper trigram communicates nicely with the third line of the lower trigram (because they switched places). All other lines are in proper communication as well. However in the hexagram of Decrease the Mountain above is certainly an obstacle, the force which controls and subdues.
In normal circumstances strong fifth line is the ruler of the hexagram, yielding sixt line is the wise advisor to the king. Here we have a weak fifth line and strong sixt line, something like your government is following directions of those above them.
The text of the changing line says:
Nine at the top means:
If one is increased without depriving others,
There is no blame.
Perseverance brings good fortune.
As I said, this is highly questionable - AI as the increase on the part of the ruling class may come as a serious deprivation of the ordinary people.
It furthers one to undertake something.
When increasing without depriving others is done in good faith undertaking something will certainly be a good idea, if that is not the case undertakings are much more risky.
One obtains servants
But no longer has a separate home.
This is pretty enigmatic line. My interpretation of this line is as follows:
AI will become so omnipresent, so ubiquitous no one will even know where is its home, where it came from and who controls it. It will be everywhere.
Sixth line changing leads us to the hexagram called Approaching, with two strong lines at the bottom and four yielding lines above. This hexagram is also called "Becoming Great".
This tells us AI will, after some time, take over so many facets of our everyday life that we even won't notice it any longer (the Mountain in the first hexagram disappeared into thin air and it was replaced by compliant Kun, Earth). That is exactly what will happen according to these two hexaqrams: Current hype around AI will collapse and after that this technology will already have entered every imaginable aspect of our lives. We won't notice it any longer, the same way fish do not notice water around them.
Again good fortune is promised until "after eight days misfortune strikes". What kind of misfortune? It is hard for me to say. What does eight days mean? Again I can only guess. Most interpreters of the Yi Jing text think eight days is the period of time needed for the hexagram Approach to run its full course. Another possibility is to interpret it as the arrival of the 7th month which is linked to Hexagram 23, Bo ("Splitting Apart")). This period of successful AI expansion will end in a disaster. What kind of disaster I do not know.
For more detailed analysis and discussion please go to this page...
