AInxiety
/ˌeɪ.aɪ.æŋˈzaɪ.ə.ti/
” unease stemming from the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence. It’s psychological response to the feeling that the world is changing faster than we can keep up with”
The Three Pillars of AInxiety
While everyone experiences it differently, most AInxiety falls into one of these categories:
1. The Professional “Replacement” Fear
This is the most common form. It’s the nagging thought: “Will an AI Agent bot be doing my job in two years?” Who feels it? Writers, coders, designers, and even legal professionals.
- The Reality: While AI excels at repetitive tasks and data synthesis, it still lacks human intuition, nuanced ethics, and true creative empathy. The shift is generally from doing the work to directing the work.
2. The Cognitive “Turing” Dread
This is the discomfort of not being able to tell what is real.
- Deepfakes: Fear of misinformation or identity theft.
- Dead Internet Theory: The eerie feeling that you’re interacting mostly with bots rather than humans online.
- Trust Erosion: When you can’t trust your eyes or ears, it creates a baseline state of hyper-vigilance.
3. The Existential “Alignment” Concern
This is the “Sci-Fi” anxiety. It’s the worry about AI systems becoming too powerful or misaligned with human values. While experts like those at OpenAI and Anthropic work on “alignment,” the public often feels a lack of agency over how these “black box” systems operate.
Symptoms of AInxiety
- Hyper-checking: Obsessively reading AI news or checking for new tool updates.
- Imposter Syndrome: Feeling like your hard-earned skills are suddenly “obsolete.”
- Choice Paralysis: Being so overwhelmed by the number of new AI tools that you end up using none of them.
Rusiawan Asli Klaten 
