Is AI About to “Eat Everything”? | AI Reality Check

The METR AI Time Horizon chart reflects a targeted industry shift toward post-training and specialized agentic coding systems, rather than a sudden leap toward artificial superintelligence. By evaluating performance on specific, well-defined software tasks through complex coding harnesses, the chart demonstrates significant progress in narrow programming applications. This advancement does not signal a general intelligence explosion. The alarmist narrative suggesting AI will "eat everything" stems from transhumanist and existential risk ideologies that incorrectly extrapolate exponential trends across all domains. Instead, AI progress functions like navigating distinct tributaries, where success in one area, such as software development, does not guarantee similar breakthroughs elsewhere. AI companies should distance themselves from these eschatological frameworks to focus on building and communicating the practical, incremental utility of their tools rather than fueling speculative anxiety.