Folks keep straying into the Shin Megami-eque assumption that we have two deities vying for control of humanity - but the deities we have don't really match that profile at all.
"As the Ascians must serve as instruments to Zodiark's will, so too must others carry out the will of Hydaelyn".

Honestly, the only indication of anyone trying to gain control over humanity that I have seen is from characters like Varis, who is pro-human right down to the letter. Regardless of whether or not he is being controlled, he'd the the prime candidate for taking humanity to the extreme. For the actual powers behind the two-way balance struggle (Zod/Hyd), humanity to them just seems like background noise. Even the Ascians, who focus more on growing darkness through chaos, would merely use humanity to achieve this via manipulation and scheming. It would not happen if they were lorded over or controlled in their entirety, other than viable pawns.

As for Hyde, I never got the impression that she is just casually allowing humanity to do their own thing. If anything, the more I see/hear of her leading up to Shadowbringers, the more I keep seeing Zod/Hyd as being the true-neutrals of the batch who probably care less about us than one might thing.