why are AI agents everywhere? and how useful are they, actually?

why are AI agents everywhere? and how useful are they, actually?

From kill switch by Kaleidoscope

April 15, 2026 · 43 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the prevalence and utility of AI agents, featuring a conversation with Evan Ratliff about his experiences with a startup run by AI employees.

AI agents can do stuff for you: like organize meetings or, accidentally delete your hard drive. Is this the future Silicon Valley wants for us? To get a preview of what it might be like, Evan Ratliff launched a startup with almost exclusively AI employees and documented the whole thing in his podcast Shell Game . Dexter talks with Evan about what it feels like to have a robot apologize for interrupting your lunch, why Clawdbot and Moltbook weren’t as groundbreaking as you might think, and why he thinks fellow journalists should consider using AI agents.  Hit us up: killswitch@kaleidoscope.nyc , or @killswitchpod and @dexdigi on IG or Bluesky. Links:  Shell Game on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shell-game/id1753117762   kill switch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@killswitch_pod See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People in this episode

Host: Dexter

Guest: Evan Ratliff

Topics covered

  • AI agents
  • technology
  • journalism
  • startups
  • automation

Keywords

  • AI agents
  • Silicon Valley
  • automation
  • journalism
  • startups
  • technology

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Silicon Valley

Books & works: Shell Game

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