Scale. A 15th century king might have been nominally in charge, but he couldn't exercise much authority without his various ranks of human minions, whose indivi

Scale. A 15th century king might have been nominally in charge, but he couldn't exercise much authority without his various ranks of human minions, whose individual power weakened down the chain, and individual pushback increased. Now a modern "king" has immense power and resources to affect everyone with very few easily replaceable lieutenants to dilute it, and AI is bound to be a magnifier of that power. They also have more insight into the population than a 15th century King could ever do -- they didn't know you existed, but a modern king knows everything from your movements to your shopping habits. From face recognition to tracking your browser's fingerprints that information is stored and logged permanently, to be mined and used whenever the kings want.