I used to think watching people live their glamorous lives on social media and comparing it to mine was corrosive to my soul. Lo and behold, the AI Twitter bros are here to crank it to eleven.
Obvious disclaimer first: I believe LLMs are good tech, especially as an augment. No, I can't predict when AGI will be here because I don't know enough. Yes, I have Claude Max 20x.
Fear of Missing Out
"...last chance to escape the permanent underclass, bro."
"You gotta run at least 4 agents in your sleep or you're NGMI. (not gonna make it)"
"Learn how to be an AI native, multi-agentic giga-chad or go broke."
"You'll be left behind if you're not running claws in a Mac Mini."
FOMO shows up at every stage of life: school, careers, relationships, money. What makes it different this time is the pace and scale. The narratives are loud, and the consequences are framed as permanent.
Miss a trend before and you could catch up later; miss AI, we are told, and you fall behind forever. That framing turns a familiar anxiety into something sharper and more relentless.
Sure, a lot of it is in jest but the messaging is constant, aggressive, and engineered to be an infectious meme that latches onto our craving for status, to be a part of the Überklasse.
Who's pushing this "now or never" doom-er scaremongering tactic everywhere you see? I've made a quick list in decreasing levels of brazenness below but if you're looking for the tldr: they're just trying to sell you something.
#1: The Hustle-as-Content Builders
While a lot of interesting builders are operating in the space with great products, the oxygen seems to be getting sucked out by the performative ones.
You know the type: 7 agents, 24/7 vibe sessions with a SOTA model, talks of 5 figures/month token budgets, yet nothing shipped, no product, customers, or revenue.
"Bro, show me what you're building" almost always dispels them but not before the damage is done and you feel like a 0.5x engineer.
#2: The Course Sellers
The run-of-the-mill pseudo-experts that pop up halfway through any hype cycle. It happened with ecommerce, with social media, with mobile apps.
Where there is hype and money, you can find them — drawn like moths to the proverbial flame. The only goal is the course, whether the tech is legitimate or grift-adjacent really doesn't matter.
You know the familiar adage around gold rushes and shovels. The new one should be "During a gold rush, sell courses on how to sell shovels."
#3: The AI Frontier Supply Chain
This one should be obvious: the folks building the core AI ecosystem. This is the large swathe of really intelligent folks building the chips, the models, the hyperscalers, and the underlying infra and telemetry layers.
Their numbers and predictions are often wildly hyperbolic and polarizing but, begrudgingly, I can respect their hustle. It's irrational to expect them to not indulge in this.
Consider that their paychecks and RSUs depend, directly, on AI becoming the dominant narrative, and their actions become entirely predictable. Whether it's the tech or the money that drew them in, it'd be sub-optimal to step off the gravy train now.
Hype Cycles at Warp Scale
Infinite outrage and fear are what social media is expertly, maliciously calibrated for, but all of this feels far worse than usual.
The last time I remember seeing this sort of insane exuberance was during the NFT era, which is a really unfortunate comparison given the vast difference in utility between the techs involved. It's a pity, to quote Lord Marbury, that the intensity of the frenzy is so illogical as to border on mass psychosis.
I reckon a lot of people like me would perceive the tech in a more positive light if the evangelists would simply stop spouting such breathless absolutism. Tone down the toxic cheerleading. Please.
If you've reached this far, thank you for reading! :)
I thought multiple exits and retiring in my mid 30s would be fun but I've just been bored and depressed without morning Slacks and emails to wake up to. If you’re building something interesting and could use an extra set of hands to ship, or just want to say hi, feel free to reach out. My inbox is open.