Uncanny Valley: AI Researchers’ Resignations, Bots Hiring Humans, Evie Magazine’s Party

This episode of Uncanny Valley covers the people resigning from AI companies and the humans getting hired by AI agents. Plus, we attend a soiree thrown by a conservative women's magazine. Brian Barrett Zoë Schiffer Leah FeigerBusinessFeb 23, 2026 2:28 PMUncanny Valley: AI Researcher Resignations, Bots Hiring Humans, Evie Magazine’s PartyThis episode of Uncanny Valley covers the people resigning from AI companies and the humans getting hired by AI agents. Plus, we attend a soiree thrown by a conservative women's magazine.Photo-Illustration: WIRED Staff; Getty ImagesCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyCommentLoaderSave StorySave this storyThis week, Zoë Schiffer dives into why some researchers at top AI companies have been resigning and publicly voicing their concerns about AI safety. Brian Barrett tells us why Rent-A-Human—a website where AI agents hire humans to perform various tasks—has gathered attention and controversy. Leah Feiger shares her experience attending a party for the conservative magazine Evie, and how the culture around the publication could shape the upcoming election cycle.You can follow Brian Barrett on Bluesky at @brbarrett, Zoë Schiffer on Bluesky at @zoeschiffer, and Leah Feiger on Bluesky at @leahfeiger. Write to us at [email protected] mentioned in this episode:OpenAI Staffer Quits, Alleging Company’s Economic Research Is Drifting Into AI AdvocacyThe Rise of RentAHuman, the Marketplace Where Bots Put People to WorkI Tried RentAHuman, Where AI Agents Hired Me to Hype Their AI StartupsBurnt Hair and Soft Power: A Night Out With Evie MagazineHow to ListenYou can always listen to this week's podcast through the audio player on this page, but if you want to subscribe for free to get every episode, here's how:If you're on an iPhone or iPad, open the app called Podcasts, or just tap this link. You can also download an app like Overcast or Pocket Casts and search for “Uncanny Valley.” We’re on Spotify too.TranscriptNote: This is an automated transcript, which may contain errors.Brian Barrett: Hey, it's Brian. Zoë, Leah, and I have really enjoyed being your new hosts these past few weeks, and we want to hear from you. If you like the show and have a minute, please leave us a review in the podcast or app of your choice. It really helps us reach more people. And for any questions and comments you can always reach us at [email protected]. Thank you for listening. On to the show.How did everybody spend their three-day weekend?Leah Feiger: Brian, I obviously saw Wuthering Heights.Brian Barrett: Obviously.Zoë Schiffer: Wait, was it really bad? I saw that post that was like—Leah Feiger: Nope. Everyone's wrong.Zoë Schiffer: … Charlotte Bronte died from tuberculosis.Leah Feiger: Emily, this was an Emily Bronte joint … it was her only book.Brian Barrett: First of all, Zoë.Zoë Schiffer: I'm actually ashamed because this book was an important part of my early adulthood.Leah Feiger: When I first read this book at age 14, 15, whatever it was, I was like, this is trash. This is poorly written. This story is bad. It's jumping around timeframe. This is not good. This is not … and I specifically remember talking to whatever teacher assigned it, and I was like, “You shouldn't assign bad books.” It was a whole thing—Zoë Schiffer: Leah was an editor even then.Brian Barrett: This is a lot of insight into middle school, Leah.Leah Feiger: Everyone's still working through it, myself, my parents.Brian Barrett: None of it surprising, none of it surprising, but just—Zoë Schiffer: She's like, I brought you another syllabus. Have you thought about this instead?Leah Feiger: Yes, all sounds right. Shout out to any teachers, hopefully not listening to this show, but all to say, I went into this being like, I am here for Jacob Elordi, and Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie alone, and these beautiful shots of the moors. Who doesn't love a misty moor?Brian Barrett: Love a moor.Leah Feiger: Love a moor. I love the moor. It had nothing to do with the book, which is fantastic, because like I said, the book was terrible, and it was perfect. It was a perfect movie. They should win an award for set design.Zoë Schiffer: OK, I'm just going to say Leah speaks for herself, Uncanny Valley is not anti-Wuthering Heights, the book, but we can move on.Brian Barrett: I am happy to be Switzerland in this situation. I have no feelings about Wuthering Heights.Zoë Schiffer: Welcome to WIRED's Uncanny Valley. I'm Zoë Schiffer, director of business and industry.Brian Barrett: I'm Brian Barrett, executive editor.Leah Feiger: And I'm Leah Feiger, senior politics editor.Zoë Schiffer: So one thing that has been very much on my mind the past week, but honestly it feels like the past year, is that we keep seeing this trend of top researchers, researchers at the top AI companies, resigning and often quitting in these very public ways. So last week a former Open AI researcher, Zoe Hitzig, wrote an op-ed for The New York Times basically saying that she was leaving the company because she had deep, deep reservations about how Open AI was goi