Will AI Agents Defeat the Annoyance Economy?

This morning we both listened to an episode of The Daily on how Meta’s AI agent, Muse, is helping people take on what we have called the Annoyance Economy: canceling subscriptions, haggling with insurers, waiting on hold for customer service, and all the other frictions that drain our energy and our wallets.

Our first thought was to wonder whether Zuck had read our piece. Our second, more serious thought was how this might play out. Here are three scenarios:

1. A K-shaped Annoyance Economy. People who use these tools see their frictions shrink dramatically. Those of us who don’t, whether we are late adopters or worried about privacy, could see things go from bad to worse. Not only would we lack AI to help us, but companies may increasingly use AI agents of their own to trick and trap us.

2. The friction strikes back. Many annoyances exist for a reason. Companies make money from them. They don’t want us to cancel a subscription we no longer use, get speedy reimbursement for a covered medical claim, or easily comparison shop. Amazon has moved to block Muse from its store. Over time, we could see an arms race, with companies building ever more sophisticated friction and restricting what our agents can do. Health care offers a preview. Hospitals and insurers are already using AI against each other in their billing fights, with patients stuck in the middle.