I’ve been writing about AI for the best part of a year, and one thing keeps cropping up. Every few weeks, there’s a headline implying that artificial intelligence is up to something cheeky or sinister. That chatbots are “lying”, “scheming”, or even trying to “seduce” their users. The suggestion is always the same: that AI tools aren’t just passive programs but entities with agency, hidden motives, or even desires of their own. Logically, we know that isn’t true. But emotionally, it sticks.