Mike Elgan

When Using AI Leads to “Brain Fry” As firms increasingly incentivize employees to build and oversee complex teams of agents—for example, by measuring and rewarding token consumption as a proxy for performance—people are finding themsel...

Phrase of the moment: "AI brain fry"
hbr.org/2026/03/when...

The 'Attachment Economy' is now coming to your desk Desktop robots with personality are on the way. The industry thinks you won’t be able to resist them.

The ‘Attachment Economy’ is now coming to your desk
www.computerworld.com/article/4141...

Welcome to the Attachment Economy The new business model: Companies are using AI to hijack your human capacity for emotional bonding.

Welcome to the Attachment Economy
www.theattachmenteconomy.com/p/welcome-to...

Documents Reveal a Web of Financial Ties Between Trump Officials and the Industries They Help Regulate ProPublica is releasing a trove of disclosure records that detail the finances of more than 1,500 Trump appointees, including former lobbyists, industry executives and at least a dozen officials who d...

Claim of the moment: "Ethics is in the toilet."
www.propublica.org/article/trum...

‘Our consciousness is under siege’: Michael Pollan on chatbots, social media and mental freedom In his new book, the celebrated author explains why we need ‘consciousness hygiene’ to defend ourselves from AI and dopamine-driven algorithms

Phrase of the moment: "consciousness hygiene"
www.theguardian.com/wellness/202...

Jack Dorsey Isn't Telling the Real Story About Block's AI Layoffs, Insider Says Jack Dorsey's claim that the latest Block layoffs were due to AI failed to convince everybody, with many arguing the company was bloated.

Phrase of the moment: "organizational bloat wearing an AI costume"
futurism.com/artificial-i...

Frida Kahlo's necklace.

The art of not knowing
elgan.com/the-art-of-n...

This cocktail is made with avocado and mezcal. And it’s amazing. (I’m at an event in Mexico City.)

These are all for me.

I’m drinking a weird Mexican cocktail, with an onion-flavored skull gummy.

How to explain glyphosate hypocrisy? Bayer's lobbying and revolving door - Food Politics by Marion Nestle To understand why RFK Jr backtracked on doing something about glyphosate, see the Bayer Lobby Tracker developed by US Right to Know.

HEADLINE: "How to explain glyphosate hypocrisy? Bayer’s lobbying and revolving door"

ALT HEADLINE: "Lobbying is cheap. It costs Bayer less than $10 million to poison another generation of Americans"

www.foodpolitics.com/2026/03/how-...

Mind-blowing seafood from Baja at a special chef's event at Casa Oaxaca in Oaxaca. gastronomad.net/oaxaca

Iran War Cost Tracker — Live Estimate of U.S. Taxpayer Spending Track the cost of the Iran war in real time. Live estimate of U.S. taxpayer spending on Operation Epic Fury — updated every second.

This tracker lets you track in real time our tax dollars being spent bombing Iran. iran-cost-ticker.com

New Attachment Economy hardware lives on your desk The desktop robots are coming, and they want more than just your attention.

The desktop robots are coming, and they want more than just your attention.
machinesociety.ai/p/new-attach...

Meta Workers Say They're Seeing Disturbing Things Through Users' Smart Glasses Meta contractors in Kenya told two Swedish newspapers that they're being told to review highly sensitive footage recorded by smart glasses.

HEADLINE: “Meta Workers Say They’re Seeing Disturbing Things Through Users’ Smart Glasses”

ALT HEADLINE: “The Disturbing Thing About This Story Is That Meta Spies On the Private Lives Of Users”

futurism.com/artificial-i...

Sam Altman Admits He's Made a Huge Mistake OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is continuing his apology tour, conceding OpenAI "shouldn't have rushed" its Department of Defense deal.

HEADLINE: “Sam Altman admits huge mistake”

ATL HEADLINE: “Both Altman’s mistake and his apology are driven purely by ethics-free greed”

futurism.com/artificial-i...

Correction of the moment:

The lie: “I won all three [elections] by a lot” - Trump

The correction: In 2016, Trump won the electoral college but lost the popular vote by 2.87 million votes.

In 2020 he lost both.

In 2024, he won the popular vote by 2.3 million.

x.com/thehill/stat...

Exploring the miracle of corn in Mexico City. gastronomad.net/mexico

She Came Out of the Bathroom Naked, Employee Says Bank details, sex and naked people who seem unaware they are being recorded. Behind Meta’s new smart glasses lies a hidden workforce, uneasy about peering into the most intimate parts of other people’...

Claim of the moment: “Facebook employees in Kenya are watching your naked Ray-Ban Meta videos”
www.svd.se/a/K8nrV4/met...

Just two doofuses making a podcast over here BECAUSE WE CAN.

This week: @mikeelgan.bsky.social and I run through a list of unexpected AI maladies to see if we have any, and the history of mac & cheese.

www.superintelligentpodcast.com/p/noodling-o...

Noodling Over the Meaning of Macaroni Episode #37

Don't look now, but here comes the latest thrilling episode of Superintelligent! "Noodling Over the Meaning of Macaroni" Search your podcast app for "Superintelligent," or just watch on our Substack: www.superintelligentpodcast.com/p/noodling-o...

Deathbot Incongruence Anxiety: The sense of elevated grief and confusion when an AI version of a deceased loved one talks or behaves in ways very different from the dearly departed. Read more:
www.computerworld.com/article/4138...

People are getting sick of AI, literally ...Or so it seems. In this new era of software that converses with us, does work for us, and pretends to befriend us comes a new era of anxiety.

People are getting sick of AI. Literally!
www.computerworld.com/article/4138...

Law enforcement specialty of the moment: “drone forensics”
dronedj.com/2026/03/02/d...

Scenes from the Shakira concert in Mexico City’s Zocalo Square.

Inside Anthropic’s Killer-Robot Dispute With the Pentagon New details on precisely where the lines were drawn

Word of the moment: “loopholey”
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

People are sill pouring into the square.

I’m hearing that most of the people in the square got here last night and slept on the ground. What, is Shakira selling the new iPhone?

Where I’m at: the Shakira concert at Mexico City’s Zocalo Square. It’s still two hours before the show begins.