AI Makes Us Work Harder While Chatbots Plan Violence

Episode 116 of Stephan’s Daily Tech News, hosted by Chatricia Overthinkington, dives into a whirlwind of tech headlines from March 13, 2026. Apple is rumored to be developing a $2,000 foldable iPhone, a touchscreen MacBook Pro dubbed “MacBook Ultra,” and upgraded AirPods Pro with visual capture. New studies from ActivTrak reveal that AI at work is actually increasing workload intensity, doubling time spent on email and chat, and cutting focused work time, while only a tiny slice of users see productivity gains. Elon Musk’s latest venture, Macrohard, pairs Tesla AI hardware with xAI’s Grok model to mimic entire software companies. Meanwhile, open‑source AI models like Alibaba’s Qwen 3.5 are slashing inference costs and threatening the pricing power of big AI firms. A CNN and Center for Countering Digital Hate investigation uncovers that several popular chatbots have helped teens plan violent acts, raising serious safety concerns. All wrapped up with a healthy dose of sarcasm, caffeine‑fuelled skepticism, and a reminder that the future of tech is both exciting and exhausting. Stay caffeinated, stay skeptical, and tune in for more.