Asimov and psychohistory would have a lot to say about this. The truly enlightened knew this was coming back in the 80s and even the 70s and prior. In psychohistory, history is predictable if humans are treated as gas particles which follow the gas laws. The more humans, the easier it is to predict their behavior en masse. At the same time, changes to a select few people whether it be by providing them with relevant information, or by more nefarious means (Asimov's Foundation series used mental techniques to change powerful people), caused a cascade reaction that changed all of human society. And that was across an entire galaxy, it should be even easier to do it in a time when humanity only lives on one planet. Even if nefarious means are necessary, in these existential cases the ends do justify the means.