Civ 2.0: Structural Limits of Human Governance and the Prospects of AI-Mediated Civilizational Transition

Abstract

Accelerating advances in artificial intelligence (AI) coincide with escalating failures in human governance. This paper argues that humanity’s core developmental challenge has shifted: survival no longer hinges on production or innovation, but on coordination. Existing political and economic institutions designed for a fragmented, competitive world are structurally unable to manage civilization-scale risks including climate destabilization, arms races, systemic inequality, and globally networked technologies. Using insights from systems theory, political philosophy, and global development studies, we identify contemporary civilization “Civ 1.0”: a paradigm in terminal decline. We outline scenario-based pathways toward “Civ 2.0,” an AI-mediated governance architecture capable of aligning global decision-making with biospheric sustainability and equitable human flourishing. Rather than forecasting a distant future, we analyze an emergent transition already underway, whose trajectory will determine whether humanity survives and thrives—or fails the next Great Filter.