AI out of control? One article sparks global alarm with apocalyptic warning.

By Muhammad MubashirPublished On 20 Feb 2026

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

That’s the message that has caught fire in the media-tech world when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI).

This column, for what it’s worth, is being written by a fallible human being on a battered keyboard with no technological assistance.

It’s extremely rare–once in a blue moon–that I read a piece that completely changes my view of an issue.

Like most people, I have viewed the rise of AI with a mixture of concern, skepticism and bemusement.

DEMOCRATS ARE LOSING AI BECAUSE OF A BIG MESSAGING PROBLEM

It’s fun to conjure up images on ChatGPT, for instance, and I get that some people use it for hyperspeed research. But then you hear anecdotes about AI screwing up math problems or spewing stuff that’s simply untrue.

Sure, we’ve all seen warnings that this fast-growing technology will cost some people their jobs, but I assumed that would be mainly in Silicon Valley. The era of plane travel didn’t wipe out passenger trains or buses, though it was curtains for the horse-and-buggy business.

But now comes Matt Shuman, who works in AI, and he’s not simply joining the prediction sweepstakes. He tells us what is happening right now.

Last year, he says, "new techniques for building these models unlocked a much faster pace of progress. And then it got even faster. And then faster again. Each new model wasn't just better than the last... it was better by a wider margin, and the time between new model releases was shorter. I was using AI more and more, going back and forth with it less and less, watching it handle things I used to think required my expertise."