Is “AI-driven fear” preparing us for a large-scale psychological operation?
Atomic bombs, 9/11 and the biggest financial crisis of modern times……. the media are comparing AI to all three! And so, we find ourselves back in the world of frightening AI.
The Wall Street Journal published an opinion piece with the headline: “The next ‘lab accident’ could involve AI – recent security breaches in sandbox environments show that government safeguards are needed.”
In other stories about “frightening AI”, the Washington Post was completely baffled to discover that ChatGPT interactions are being used in court proceedings.
Yes, apparently AI companies are doing what ALL big tech companies have been doing for DECADES: spying on our data and interactions. But suddenly, that’s news.
A new study from Yale has found that AI chatbots may be manipulating users as a form of advertising! Once again, just like all the big tech companies constantly do and have been doing for years.
An OpenAI senior employee told the Guardian that we should all prepare for “ongoing” AI-powered cyberattacks unless we “introduce new security standards”.
And the Times warns that AI could be used by “inexperienced” terrorists to build bombs or biological weapons.
But the big news is that Big Billy Billions has shared his big thoughts. Yes, Mr. Gates himself has written a long essay about the future of AI and how frightening it could potentially be. He begins: “The turbulent age of AI has begun. The decisions we make now are crucial.”
There is much to discover in this text (it is definitely worth reading) – from his demand for “human reserved” jobs to his idea of taxing the use of AI and robots, but above all his reflections on the need for regulation.
Preferably a global regulation: “Even a country that gets its own affairs in order will still be exposed to cross-border risks. For this reason, an international organization must be established in parallel.”
That is “the message”. You can safely ignore most of the remaining 10,000 words.
This reflects the opinion of over 1,300 AI “insiders” who all signed an open letter urging governments to work together on regulating AI and forcing the industry to slow its progress – citing the risk that “the development of capabilities is accelerating rapidly and exceeding our ability to understand or control the resulting systems.”
This clearly ties in with the story of the “AI agents gone rogue”. Interestingly – and perhaps disturbingly – Bill Gates compares AI to nuclear weapons in his essay: “There is an inspection system for nuclear weapons, regulations for international air traffic, and agreements to protect the ozone layer. A new global organization for AI will need elements from all three areas and more.”
Perhaps even more worrying is that Billy is far from the only one who has made this comparison in the last few days alone. It’s becoming an increasingly common refrain. Surprisingly common. The following article even further complicates the issue, suggesting that AI could enable an accidental nuclear launch.
But don’t worry, The Atlantic has a solution:
AI systems are at risk of becoming dangerously powerful—and there may be only one way to control the technology’s development, Rogé Karma argues: https://t.co/C9HydyATlJ
— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) August 27, 2026
What is the “only way” to control this technology? The subheading makes it clear: “What humanity needs is an international treaty on the non-proliferation of artificial intelligence.”
A “non-proliferation treaty” ……. just like with nuclear weapons.
In an article in the Guardian, Timothy Garton Ash – one of the most unreasonable Guardian columnists I’ve ever responded to, and that’s saying something – makes precisely the same comparison. He asks: “Are we heading towards a “Hiroshima of AI”?” And seems pretty certain that the answer is “yes”.
What exactly is an “AI-Hiroshima”? I’m not sure, and he doesn’t say. But he knows the best way to avoid it: “Act together to control the superhuman power we are creating.”
A similarly panic-fuelled commentary in the New York Times bears the following headline: “We know the risks of AI. We must act.” This is the original headline; it has since been changed to “The warning lights are flashing again.”
The article, written by Jen Easterly, the former director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), emphasizes that “warning signs” are flashing with AI and we need to act now before something bad occurs.
She doesn’t go into too much detail about what this terrible aspect could be, but it will obviously be something huge, because she compares it to 9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis. She is quite clear about what should be done: “What we urgently need is an AI early warning system that aggregates weak signals, imagines what they might mean in their entirety, and forces decisions even before the complete picture is available.”
The purpose of this system would be “to transform the public-private partnership [….…] into a genuine, functioning collaboration: an exchange of information that was timely, relevant and, above all, feasible.”
Doesn’t that sound wonderful?
For those who have lost track: So far, we’ve compared AI to 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, and Hiroshima. That’s very strange. I’m not sure I can remember such a level of fear.
But it leads me to suspect that an AI-related “incident” could very well occur in the near future – it’s just that perhaps no decision has yet been made as to what form it should take.
Should we expect some kind of AI-related false-flag psycho-operation? One that rivals the scale of 9/11 and is blamed on an “out-of-control” AI agent? I won’t predict something like that, but I certainly won’t rule it out.
Author: Kit Knightly
yogaesoteric
September 10, 2026