Excellent piece of writing.

My favorite line: "The vast majority of people will simply hand over their minds and their capacity to question or disagree and A.I will become judge and jury."

There is also another fork in this road of possibilities: The marriage of AI with individuals, cyberpunk style.

There is a lot of room for creativity to see how the FEW combat the default choices of the MANY. I think that this is all following the same historic trends... however, I also see a vast potential for freedom for those individuals brave enough to pursue it. Decentralization is a key for this to happen.

For example, currently it is very difficult to get food that is grown in properly restructured soil (not organic, organic doesn't even address this issue). However, both technology and perhaps necessity can lead to the decentralization of food production, which can open up vast new opportunities.

...and, what would happen if the hacking community at large made an organized decision to build a decentralized resistance to thought control? There is already talk of a decentralized internet, for example.

So along with dangers, I also see vast opportunities. I do not think it will take the masses acceptance to present these opportunities. The masses will, in my opinion, continue along their blissfully ignorant paths.