>as you're fine with the mind control It does seem a bit silly to argue about the particulars of a fantasy utopia. Banks posits the conceit that super AI Minds

>as you're fine with the mind control It does seem a bit silly to argue about the particulars of a fantasy utopia. Banks posits the conceit that super AI Minds will be benevolent, and of course this need not be the case (plenty of counter-examples in SF, one of my favorites being Greg Benford's Galactic Center series). But note that within the Culture, mind reading (let alone mind control) without permission will get a Mind immediately ostracized from society, one of the few things that gets this treatment. For example the Grey Area uses such a power to suss out genocidal guilt, is treated with extreme disdain by other Minds. See https://theculture.fandom.com/wiki/Grey_Area https://theculture.fandom.com/wiki/Grey_Area As for "personal agency over the broad course of the future", note that the vast majority of humans don't have that, and will never have that, with or without Minds. If one can have benevolent AI gods at the cost of the very few egos affected, on utilitarian grounds that is an acceptable trade-off. On a personal note, I think the relationship between people and AIs will be far more complex than just all good (Culture) or all bad (Skynet). In fact, I expect the reality to be a combination with absurd atrocities that would make Terry Pratchett giggle in his grave.