Keen On America AI's Adolescent Crisis: And It's Still Just a Toddler
Jan 31, 2026
Keith Teare, publisher of That Was The Week and long-time tech commentator, riffs on AI’s growing pains with wit and skepticism. He dissects Dario Amodei’s “adolescence” thesis, debates emergent bot societies and proactive agents like OpenClaw, and weighs economic disruption, IP fights, and whether tech titans will ever truly grow up.
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AI Is Still At Life's Beginning
- AI is likely still at the very beginning of its lifecycle and may act as a form of 'eternal life' tech rather than having a clear adolescence.
- We don't have a reliable life-cycle model for AI, so claims about its maturity are speculative.
Amodei's Ambivalence Signals Internal Tension
- Dario Amodei's essay reflects internal conflict: promoting AI benefits while warning of existential risks.
- Keith Teare compares Amodei to an angst-ridden teenager who wants to profit yet feels guilty about the consequences.
Bots Built Their Own Social Network
- OpenClaude (now OpenClaw) introduced 'swarms', allowing many hierarchical agents to collaborate on tasks.
- Someone built MaltBook where only bots registered and talked to each other, creating a bot social network.