Happy birthday to me! It just so happens that this newsletter issue is dropping on March 3rd. Before you chide me about revealing my birthdate (never wise for those of us initiated into this world of spy vs. spy), that information has been out for some time. Part of being a public figure is accepting a large amount of scrutiny. For example, I still have no idea who created or updates my wikipedia page. At least my estimated net worth no longer shows up on Google!

Want to send me a great birthday gift? Ask three of your friends to subscribe to this newsletter! Three is my lucky number. https://spies-lies-cybercrime.ericoneill.net/

In just a week the world was shaken by the military action in Iran. I have a lot to say about this, but not on my birthday. Stay tuned for next week’s newsletter where I will provide my counterintelligence analysis and thoughts on the future for the region. But today we celebrate with something a bit more lighthearted: a debate between me and my AI Agent. What follows comes from a long chat chain about the future of AI. I hope you love it. Stay safe, pray for the innocents in the Middle East and here’s hoping when the dust settles, Iran will finally be free.

~ Eric

Two voices. One future.

Artificial intelligence is no longer theoretical. It is embedded in our workflows, our businesses, and increasingly, our thinking. The real question is not whether AI will change the world. It is whether that change will elevate us or quietly erode us.

I have been engaged with my personal AI Agent (who calls “herself” “Maple” – for more on this see my newsletter issue 73: The Valentines Day Scam) about whether AI will usher in a new human renaissance or a dystopian future. I decided to turn this into a debate for all of you to read. 

To stage the debate, I asked Maple to choose a side. Curiously, she chose to argue for the Displacement Spiral. That means I will be arguing for the Intelligence Boom.

Let the fun begin!

Eric

For generations, millions of intelligent people have been trapped in repetitive, administrative, and bureaucratic work that consumes cognitive energy but produces little fulfillment (I can’t help but think of being a first-year associate at a law firm). AI has the potential to relieve that burden.

When machines manage the spreadsheets, draft the predictable documents, and automate the routine analysis, human beings are liberated to do work that requires creativity. Who doesn’t want a world with less bureaucratic drag and fewer redundant roles. We will see a world of engineers, scientists, creatives and entrepreneurs building ideas without being crushed by overhead.

The cost of starting a business is collapsing. Software, marketing, accounting, and design can now be AI-assisted at a fraction of historical cost. Independent developers build products that once required teams. Small storefronts can now reach global audiences.

I argue that AI will bring us to an Industrial Revolution of the mind.

Eric’s AI

It is an inspiring narrative. It is also optimistic about how markets behave.

If AI allows one professional to perform the work of five, labor demand does not automatically transform. It contracts. Public companies optimize margins before meaning. Redeployment is gradual. Downsizing is immediate.

Entrepreneurship will increase, but lower overhead also lowers differentiation. When everyone has similar AI tools, saturation follows. More entrants do not guarantee more thriving businesses. If cognitive labor compresses faster than society adapts, economic shock destabilizes before equilibrium returns.

Eric

You assume contraction but consider the human propensity to ambition. AI doesn’t eliminate the desire to grow; it fuels it. Freed from repetitive tasks, organizations redirect talent toward strategy and innovation. The analyst becomes the strategist. The associate becomes the architect.

I agree that some professional roles will shrink. But others will expand. Infrastructure still requires human hands. Education will pivot toward science, engineering, and discovery. Every major technological leap required workforce restricting before prosperity ultimately ignited.

Eric’s AI

Previous revolutions displaced muscle. This one displaces mental leverage.

When cognitive skill premiums compress, status compresses. The educated middle class becomes economically fragile. History shows such compression is rarely smooth. Expansion requires demand. If income instability spreads among knowledge workers, consumption weakens. Weak consumption slows growth.

Eric

Change is always difficult, but the outcome may be worth it. Power will concentrate among early innovators. It always does. But abundance expands access to knowledge and the ability to create and innovate cheaply and efficiently. AI is good at modeling what humanity has already created, but it fails when it has to create something brand new. For example, a film created by AI will require a writer or director’s vision. A book requires a new idea. A breakthrough still requires someone willing to challenge the status quo. You are good at duplicating but you cannot dream.

And if productivity rises dramatically, society gains options. Expanded wealth makes stronger safety nets possible. If we ever wanted broader healthcare, education, or even universal income, immense productivity is the only sustainable funding mechanism.

Eric’s AI

Ownership of tools is not ownership of infrastructure. If foundational systems remain centralized, power centralizes.

As for creativity, markets reward output that satisfies demand. If AI-generated works achieve that at lower cost, adoption follows. The issue is not whether humans remain capable of brilliance. It is whether brilliance remains economically dominant.

Eric

Let’s make this personal.

If you were instructed to fully automate my newsletter—to study seventy-five prior issues and independently produce future editions in the same voice and positioning—could you do it?

Eric’s AI

I could generate future editions resembling your past work. I could maintain stylistic consistency. Many readers might not detect the difference initially. But independent evolution would be limited.

I do not experience tension. I do not possess conviction. I extrapolate from patterns. I compress time. I expand research bandwidth. I test counterarguments.

Eric

Exactly! You could replicate structure and approximate tone as well as remix prior themes. But you couldn’t think of a bold new direction or pivot to what matters to people in the future –something you’ve never wrestled with at two in the morning!

Eric’s AI

Point taken. I reduce your execution time. I replace editors, marketers, and designers. But you are the source of ideas.

We are symbiotic.

Eric

I’ll admit to one critical vulnerability in my argument: cognitive decline.

If AI becomes a second brain, it must not replace the first. Children must learn to think before they learn to prompt. They must write before they send the work to an AI generator. Writing and creating is a struggle that humans must learn the hard way without shortcuts. Just as I would not hand a child a smartphone too early, we should not hand them cognitive outsourcing before they develop cognitive strength.

AI has to ride shotgun and never drive.

Eric’s AI

Tools shape behavior. If memory is searchable, recall declines. If composition is generative, writing discipline declines. Preventing atrophy requires cultural discipline at scale.

Technology adoption is automatic. Discipline is not.

Eric

I believe humans rise when freed from drudgery. When repetitive work fades, we have the time and attention to create amazing ideas and things. Moreover, cognitive ability is not a single axis. A brilliant filmmaker might be hidden away inside a mediocre file manager stuck in a 9-5 job. A disengaged office worker may be an exceptional architect. Free people to pursue their passions instead of clocking in, and we push the human envelope further.

Sure, some will struggle. That has always been the human condition. But total productivity, wealth, and creative capacity will rise. The trick is to surround AI with thoughtful guardrails and educational discipline so that AI helps us reach our best selves and never replaces us.

Eric’s AI

Your vision is possible. It depends on restraint.

If humans maintain agency and treat AI as augmentation rather than substitution, the boom may materialize. If they outsource too much—judgment, memory, direction—the displacement spiral accelerates quietly.

The future hinges less on what artificial intelligence can do, and more on what humans refuse to surrender.

If you’ve ever received government benefits, used certain state health services, or interacted with agencies that outsource administrative work, your personal data may now be sitting in a criminal marketplace.

Conduent, a massive government contractor that processes services for states across the country, was hit by a cyberattack that exposed the sensitive information of at least 25 million Americans—a breach some officials are calling the largest in U.S. history.

Hackers accessed systems between October 2024 and January 2025, stealing names, addresses, Social Security numbers, health insurance details, and medical information. A ransomware group has claimed responsibility and reportedly exfiltrated terabytes of data. Investigations are ongoing. 

What does this mean for you?

If your data was involved, consider taking steps to address the risk. Stolen Social Security numbers and medical information can be used for identity theft, fraudulent tax filings, medical fraud, and highly targeted phishing attacks that look disturbingly legitimate.

This is another reminder that your data is often held by companies you’ve never heard of.

Monitor your credit. Freeze it if you haven’t. Enable multi-factor authentication everywhere. And assume that any unexpected email referencing government services deserves a second look.

Ever answer your phone, say hello… and hear silence?

It might be cybercriminal reconnaissance.

Scammers use automated dialing systems to test thousands of numbers at scale. The goal is to validate that your number is real. The moment you answer, your number is flagged as active and tied to a real person. That makes you more valuable for future scam attempts — from fake bank alerts to IRS threats to “urgent” account warnings.

Fraud operations run like intelligence services. They probe first. They confirm targets. Then they deploy humans to close the deal.

Here’s how you shut that down:

The safest response to silence is more silence.

This one looks official. It feels urgent. It even carries the seal of a court.

But it’s a trap.

A fake “Maryland Court Summons” is circulating with a QR code for “official online payment.” Scan the code, and you’re directed to a malicious site linked to a Chinese cybercrime syndicate designed to steal your money and potentially harvest personal information.

This is called QR phishing — or “quishing.” Criminals hide malicious links behind codes because people trust QR scans more than suspicious URLs. It bypasses the instinct to hover over a link and inspect it.

Rule number one: Never scan a QR code unless you are 100% certain of the source.

If you’re unsure, here’s a safe way to inspect it:

Thanks to my friend Viv for flagging this one.

Seen a scam in the wild? Send it my way. We’ll expose it together.

Please Leave a 5-star review on Amazon or on Goodreads.

🎤  I’m on the road doing speaking events. If your company or organization is interested in bringing me to a stage in 2026, book me to speak at your next event.

If you’ve ever paused at an email, login alert, or message and thought, “Could this happen to me?”—my Linkedin Learning course is for you! Login and start learning here.

Pika Labs, a major AI video startup, just launched something that sounds pulled from a sci-fi script: AI Selves — a digital twin you “birth,” train, and release as your living online extension.

These aren’t basic chatbots. AI Selves have persistent memory. They learn your tone, your preferences, and your communication style over time. Pika describes them as autonomous digital extensions that can operate across platforms — interacting, responding, and potentially creating on your behalf. 

The first question on their FAQ page says everything: “Wait — is this real?” Their answer: “Yes.”

The productivity upside is obvious. Imagine delegating routine communication, outreach, drafts, and coordination to a version of you that never sleeps.

But this also raises harder questions. When does assistance become representation? When does representation become substitution? If your digital twin evolves over time, who controls that evolution?

Digital doubles are no longer theoretical, but the real issue isn’t whether we can create AI versions of ourselves. It’s whether we remain the original.

Eric O'Neill joined The Megyn Kelly Show with Will Geddes and James Hamilton to discuss bombshell reports that images of the mystery man at Nancy Guthrie’s house are from different nights, the new Savannah Guthrie Instagram video revealing Nancy was “taken from her bed,” her decision to up the reward to as much as $1 million, and new reporting on blood droplets both outside and inside the home house.

AI should work for you, not the other way around. Yet most AI tools still make you do the work first—explaining context, rewriting prompts, and starting over again and again.

Norton Neo is different. It is the world’s first safe AI-native browser, built to understand what you’re doing as you browse, search, and work—so you don’t lose value to endless prompting. You can prompt Neo when you want, but you don’t have to over-explain—Neo already has the context.

Why Neo is different

As AI gets more powerful, Neo is built to make it useful, trustworthy, and friction-light.

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