AI Panic Rhetoric Mirrors COVID Fear-Mongering Tactics to Manipulate Public
Source: Matt Miller. "Fear Porn About AI Dominance Follows The Covid Panic Playbook." February 18, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The author argues that people warning about AI taking over are using the exact same fear tactics that were used during COVID to scare people into compliance. He says we should be suspicious because the COVID predictions were wrong and the controls didn't work.
Conclusion
Current AI dominance warnings use the same manipulative fear-based rhetoric that was employed during COVID-19 to induce population-wide panic and compliance
Premises
- Matt Shumer's viral AI essay uses identical rhetorical patterns to COVID-19 panic articles from 2020
- Both AI and COVID warnings claim insider knowledge and present themselves as doing the public a favor by revealing impending doom
- Both use dashboards and trend projections to create impressions of unstoppable, planet-wide threats
- Both induce feelings of helplessness while offering compliance as the only solution
- The UK government explicitly documented using fear-based messaging during COVID to increase perceived personal threat
- COVID predictions ultimately proved far worse than reality, and population controls were largely ineffective
Assumptions
- Rhetorical patterns can reliably indicate manipulative intent
- Past government manipulation tactics will be repeated in new contexts
- Similar messaging styles indicate similar underlying motives
- AI proponents don't actually know what the future holds any better than the general public
- Fear-based messaging is primarily used for control rather than genuine public benefit