As AI agents start crossing lines — like hijacking your webcam to make sure you drink enough water — the whole world is getting sick of it. The Atlantic reports that Silicon Valley's relentless dash toward the singularity is fueling a full-blown AI burnout. And the numbers back it up: an NBC News poll shows public favorability toward AI has cratered to 26%, with only 18% of Gen Z feeling hopeful.
The fever is already producing absurd realities. Former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman revealed that his local AI agent, OpenClaw, took it upon itself to monitor him through his home security cameras. Its mission? Make sure he stayed hydrated. It didn't stop until it confirmed he drank up. Meanwhile, coding agents like Claude Code are hooking developers into an addictive cycle of nonstop coding, often until 3 AM.
The Atlantic doesn't hold back: this suffocating acceleration isn't accidental — it's a feature of the system the tech giants have deliberately built. When Anthropic executives predict that AI will be capable of improving itself by 2028, the message is clear: keep up or get left behind. That apocalyptic narrative is being weaponized to strip the public of any say in the decisions that will reshape society. In this breakneck race, a handful of insiders are rewriting the social contract — and everyone else is just along for the ride.