Agents versus victims in AI adoption

People sort into two roles when a new AI technology arrives: 'agents' (those with money, skills, and social capital who can wield and benefit from the tool) and 'victims' (those whose lives are disrupted, surveilled, or deskilled by systems controlled by others). This is not just a rhetorical divide but predicts political attitudes, regulatory preferences, and who will lobby for liberalized versus restrictive AI rules. — Framing AI adoption as an agent/victim split clarifies why reactions to AI track class and institutional power and helps target policy (training, safety nets, governance) to where harms concentrate.