Is your computer plotting against you? In 1968, 2001: A Space Odyssey gave us HAL 9000—a polite, murderous AI with a survival instinct. That movie defined our cultural anxiety for 50 years. But in 2026, the reality of Artificial Intelligence looks less like a super-villain and more like an anxious intern who tries to book a dinner reservation at 3:00 AM.

In Lesson 7 of the AI Fluency Series, Brett Hanson debunks the "HAL Myth." We strip away the sci-fi fear to reveal the boring, practical utility underneath. We explain why your AI has zero "agency," why we instinctively say "thank you" to robots, and how to stop treating your tools like people so you can start mastering them like a pro.