Welcome to AI PANIC—a newsletter about Artificial Intelligence hype and panic.
Its independent investigative journalism examines the factors driving the current hyperbolic discourse about AI and AI existential risk.
This TIME magazine’s cover served as an inspiration:
Executive summary:
Since the launch of generative AI, doomerism has moved from fringe online forums into mainstream policy debates. By now, a recognizable pattern has emerged.
It begins with speculative assumptions about AI’s future, which are elevated into an apocalyptic ideology. Rooted in the rationalist and effective altruist communities, this quasi-theological worldview is supported by a well-funded network of research organizations, advocacy groups, media campaigns, and policy networks. Through carefully crafted fear messaging, these hypothetical catastrophic scenarios are presented as an urgent call to action. Doom-friendly media outlets then amplify these narratives, often without critically examining their underlying assumptions, ideological origins, or financial backing. The result is a self-reinforcing cycle of fear that turns speculative doomsday scenarios into public anxiety. It is then used to justify real-world centralization and control. This power grab needs to be resisted.
What to expect?
1. Type of content?
You might know me from Twitter (DrTechlash), my Techlash Book, or read some of my media columns.1 Or maybe you've never read a word of my work, but are interested in AI coverage and have found your way here. Whatever the case, you can expect data-driven content and media analysis of the current AI panic.
2. How often?
Attached to news events as much as possible.
3. Paid subscription or free?
FREE. All content is publicly available.
Subscribe & never miss an update.
“AI Supremacy” named it one of the Top AI Newsletters of 2024.
The newsletter content was frequently cited by the White House AI Czar.
I hope you’ll learn new stuff and share your own insights. Thank you.
Endnote
I’ve published in Techdirt, The Daily Beast, FreeThink, Newsweek, Big Think, Tech Policy Press, and UnHerd magazine. I was quoted in The Washington Post, New York Post, WIRED, Forbes, Fortune magazine, Financial Times, VentureBeat, Engadget, Ars Technica, Slate, Fast Company, Rolling Stone, San Francisco Chronicle, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Washington Free Beacon, Le Monde, Les Echos, France 24, IEEE Spectrum, and Scientific American.
