When the thermostat regulates the temperature at home, when Google Maps suggests the fastest route, and when a streaming service recommends a film or series, these functions rely on the technology behind artificial intelligence: mathematical algorithms developed to identify patterns in data and act upon them.

Artificial intelligence has entered everyday life to such an extent that the technology is almost impossible to avoid. It is not in itself groundbreaking that new technologies influence daily life, but with artificial intelligence something is nonetheless different.

- I think of artificial intelligence as a cognitive technology that helps shape our thinking. There are earlier examples of this; writing is one of them. But we are operating at a level where we are talking about a technology that does not merely help us carry out a predefined action faster, better, or more easily. It influences what actions we wish to carry out in the first place, says Peter Dalsgaard, professor of Digital Design and Information Studies.

Peter Dalsgaard researches the interaction between humans and technology, a field that in recent years has increasingly been shaped by artificial intelligence. In the book AI, published in January 2026 by Aarhus University Press as part of the Tænkepauser series, he places in perspective the changes that followed the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022.

A new conversation partner

Within just two months, ChatGPT reached 100 million users, making it the fastest-growing technology in history.

With the launch of AI-powered chatbots such as ChatGPT, we acquired a conversation partner that responds quickly and readily to questions about almost anything, offers encouragement on a difficult day, or suggests what to cook when shown the contents of a refrigerator.

The technology intervenes in our thought processes and influences our behaviour, our language, and our habits.

- If I am to give an example, many people today speak with their chatbots about deeply personal matters that they might not even dare to confide in other human beings. They may feel that the topic is stigmatising, or they may feel embarrassed or shy about it. They then find a confidant in an AI chatbot. If you had told people this five years ago, most would probably have found it difficult to imagine. But the more we use and adapt to these systems, the more they shift our boundaries for what we perceive as normal,” says Peter Dalsgaard.

The human element in the chatbot differs fundamentally from anything we have previously encountered.

- The interface is exactly the same as the one we would use if the two of us were chatting. The behavioural-psychological and design considerations behind these language models have, I believe, had a tremendous impact on how quickly the technology became popular, he says.

What role should the technology play?

Today, artificial intelligence is present everywhere. Doctors use it to analyse scans in order to become better at identifying early signs of disease. Businesses use it to automate customer service. Architects use it to visualise projects. The examples could continue.

According to Peter Dalsgaard, this development calls for greater reflection. Critical reflection combined with a constructive mindset is insufficiently present.

- I see the technology being rolled out very quickly in many contexts, without necessarily much consideration of its effects. We tend to adopt the technology as it is presented by large software developers. But the technology could take many different forms, and I would like to see us take a more active role in shaping it — and in deciding whether we want to use it at all. Many of these technologies are in fact ones we could take ownership of and develop so that they better align with our wishes and needs, he explains.

According to the researcher, we should more actively consider what we want to use the technology for and what role we want it to play in society.

We are already seeing artificial intelligence transform the way we work. We delegate subtasks to machines and use human resources to coordinate and integrate the results. Peter Dalsgaard is surprised that this development has not attracted greater political attention.

- I am genuinely surprised that this is not a larger political issue than it currently is. If part of the work we perform can be taken over by machines developed by people outside Denmark, then we are paying them instead of paying workers in Denmark. If we also know that many of these machines are built to process material we have produced and use it as raw material without compensation, what are the consequences? asks Peter Dalsgaard.

A mirror of ourselves

Just as artificial intelligence influences our behaviour, the influence also runs in the opposite direction. Humans and technology shape one another reciprocally.

We may perceive the technology as neutral or objective, but in practice it reflects our worldview and our intelligence.

- It can make us aware of things we may previously have overlooked. We can see aspects of ourselves in a new light, explains Peter Dalsgaard.

When artificial intelligence describes nurses as women or certain ethnic minorities as criminals, this reflects the data embedded in our digital traces.

In the same way, the technology can challenge our understanding of human qualities.

- Our creativity is a good example. If, as it seems, parts of human creativity can be formalised, then perhaps some aspects of what we have regarded as uniquely human creativity are not as unique as we thought, notes Peter Dalsgaard.

For or against?

Debate about artificial intelligence is often polarised. With the book AI, Peter Dalsgaard hopes to introduce greater nuance.

- If you ask me, I would argue that overall we are dealing with a technology that has significantly more positive than negative effects — especially if we become better at helping to correct or shape it in directions that make sense for us, he says.

According to the researcher, the most concerning course of action would be to leave it to others to determine what the technology should be capable of and the principles according to which it should be developed.

- I am concerned that, for example in the media sector, we may make ourselves dependent on platforms and media controlled by actors with interests different from those traditionally associated with Danish public-interest media. With these technologies, such platforms can exercise forms of influence that are sometimes quite subtle — shifts we may not necessarily notice, or gradual changes in what and how we are exposed to information about the world, and how we may be trained to think in certain directions. But that is something we can influence by actively choosing other media, says Peter Dalsgaard.

Facts

AI was published by Aarhus University Press as part of the Tænkepauser series on 5 January 2026.

The book is written by Peter Dalsgaard, professor at Aarhus University and researcher in human–computer interaction, with particular focus on artificial intelligence and how the technology influences the way we live.

In the book, Peter Dalsgaard takes readers back to post-war laboratories, where computing pioneers, alongside the development of the first computers, discussed whether it was possible to create a machine capable of imitating human thought — and forward to the present day, where artificial intelligence has become so closely woven into everyday life that it is beginning to transform the way we think.

Contact

Peter Dalsgaard
Professor, Digital Design and Information Studies
School of Communication and Culture
Aarhus Universitet
Mail: dalsgaard@cavi.au.dk