Socio-cultural and anthropological challenges at the beginning of the 21st century

Introduction. The article deals with the problem associated with the active invasion of new technologies, gadgets, and what has now been generically called artificial intelligence into our lives. The strengthening of the virtual, the emergence of media space, online culture, the online world, technological comfort, the digital world are beginning to qualitatively change a person, influence his attribute qualities that seemed integral and iconic. Theoretical analysis. Society begins to react to the totality of transformations with a number of new contradictions, special social tension. The introduction of artificial intelligence calls into question the creativity of a person, leads to the division of society into a few professionals who are in the thick of digital technology, and the majority of non-professionals. Virtualization has also weakened the understanding of the physical boundaries of the body and the ability to use its resources wisely. There is a threat to the private uniqueness of a person as a social and cultural component, which manifests itself through communication, and develops in a socio-cultural environment. It is assumed that for the average user of a personal computer in the near future, the role of a machine reproducing information may be prepared, while artificial intelligence will perform a creative role that at one time distinguished a person. Conclusion. The theses discussed above lead to the question: to what extent society, having created technologies, has ensured their inclusion in the social space, to what extent society as a whole is ready to exist together with artificial intelligence in the interfacing real and virtual worlds, and what needs to be done to preserve the individual and society? The results of the technological breakthrough of the first decades of the XXI century put society in front of a difficult choice of a balance between qualitative changes in society and anthropological qualities of a person and the preservation of the attributive properties of the individual and society.