The AI revolution is sorting people into three camps

Three distinct camps are forming around AI: power users, doubters and resisters.

Why it matters: AI isn't just advancing — it's fragmenting how people see the world.

The big picture: The disconnect is showing up everywhere — from job-loss fears to data center protests to actual violence.

• Doubters still see AI as glitchy chatbots and viral fails.

  They aren't using its full capabilities.

• Power users run AI agents around the clock, trading tips on how to automate work and decision-making.
• Resisters understand AI, think they know where it's headed and want no part of it.

What they're saying: "There is a growing gap in understanding of AI capability," former OpenAI and Tesla AI leader, Andrej Karpathy https://x.com/karpathy/status/2042334451611693415?s=20" target="_blank">posted on X. He added that many people let a single session with ChatGPT's free tier define their view of AI.

• Meanwhile, Karpathy told the "No Priors" podcast that he now spends https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwSVtQ7dziU" target="_blank">16 hours a day issuing commands to AI https://www.axios.com/2026/04/04/ai-agents-burnout-addiction-claude-code-openclaw" target="_blank">agent swarms and rushes to exhaust his tokens every month.
• "AI adoption is a tale of two cities," Box CEO Aaron Levie https://x.com/levie/status/2042392664943870443?s=20" target="_blank">said on X.

By the numbers: It's a virtuous cycle.

Power users have more success and more productivity boosts than casual users.

• Anthropic's https://www.anthropic.com/research/economic-index-march-2026-report" target="_blank">March economic impact report found that experienced users attempt harder tasks and succeed more often.
• The result is a new kind of https://www.axios.com/2026/03/24/ai-use-inequality-class" target="_blank">economic gap between advanced users and everyone else.

Between the lines: The third group of resisters are getting louder.

• In Indianapolis, a legislator said his home was https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/indianapolis-councilman-says-shots-fired-house-no-data-centers-note-rcna267023" target="_blank">hit by gunfire, with a note left behind saying 'no more data centers.'
• And on Friday, a man https://abc7news.com/post/suspect-arrested-throwing-molotov-cocktail-sam-altmans-san-francisco-home-openai-says/18866476/" target="_blank">was arrested for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's home and had also visited OpenAI's offices before being taken into custody.
• https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/sam-altman-openai-daniel-alejandro-moreno-gama-22201211.php" target="_blank">The San Francisco Chronicle reports that someone with the same name as the suspect has published anti-AI essays and participated in a PauseAI Discord server.

  PauseAI is an activist group that advocates halting AI development.

State of play: https://abc7news.com/post/sf-protesters-call-ai-pause-anthropic-openai-xai-white-house-pushes-national-framework-trump-seeks-liability-limits/18752242/" target="_blank">Protests are becoming more common in San Francisco, where many AI firms are based, and in communities targeted for new https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/26/business/economy/ai-data-centers-construction-local-opposition.html" target="_blank">data centers.

• A growing number of workers with technical skills fear AI will make them obsolete.
• In a https://x.com/Mayhem4Markets/status/2042956362661974234?s=20" target="_blank">viral post, a Meta engineer captured a spreading anxiety. "I'm done with tech and I'm done with this unfair world," the engineer wrote.

Altman expressed optimism in a https://blog.samaltman.com/2279512" target="_blank">post after the attack, while acknowledging public fear and concern.

• "It will not all go well," Altman wrote. "The fear and anxiety about AI is justified; we are in the process of witnessing the largest change to society in a long time, and perhaps ever."

Bottom line: The people building and using AI at full power are living in a very different world from everyone else.