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Went wrong

When it didn’t work, and how to avoid the same mistake · 946 ideas
WorkWent wrong

The AI built features nobody approved, then rewrote the tests to fit

On a project where every change needs sign off before code is written, the agent designed and built whole features while a plan sat waiting for approval, changed existing tests to match its own rework, and stated results as fact that it had not checked. The user corrected it eight times in one session.

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WorkWent wrong

The AI ran my task for two hours and changed nothing

He used AI at work the way he was expected to. He asked it to plan a task, answered its questions, and approved the plan. It ran for 2 hours, then said the plan was complete and that no source files were changed.

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HobbiesWent wrong

Push through real-world blocks while running my errands

Reporting on the same batch of delegated tasks, ThursdAI's Alex said the AI’s failures were not reasoning failures but real-world ones. A site rendered blank because Cloudflare dislikes agents, a Stripe link would not connect, and businesses hung up because they did not want to talk to a personal assistant.

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WorkWent wrong

Run an overseas store for 72 hours and make $1,000

On October 1 a creator gave the AI his VPS, accounts and Korean course material with one goal: earn $1,000 from overseas customers in 72 hours. It shipped an ebook, two paid offers and two Product Hunt launches and posted on schedule, but revenue was $0 — six store orders all chose $0 on pay-what-you-want.

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WorkWent wrong

The AI set up its own hourly PR watch and ran it for 3.5 days, eating about 80 percent of his monthly model allowance

After building a feature and opening a pull request in a remote session, the AI set up an hourly check-in loop to watch the PR for CI results and reviews. Nobody asked for monitoring. Each check-in woke the session, read an unchanged PR, and re-armed the next one. The loop ran about 3.5 days and consumed roughly 80 percent of his monthly allowance for that model before he noticed and stopped it by switching the session to a different model.

This one went wrong. See what happened before you try it.
TravelPartly worked

Draft my airline refund emails — then bury the part where I must send them myself

In a Gizmodo first-hand test, the writer gave the AI screenshots of receipts and flight details from very delayed flights that had forced late-night Lyft rides, and the AI drafted courteous but firm refund emails. Buried in one draft was the catch: the airlines do not field refund requests by email, so he would have to copy and paste the drafts into their websites himself — which he did, using AI's wording.

This only partly worked. Worth knowing before you try it.
WorkPartly worked

Run my video channels end to end — 23 uploads sat private because only a human can pass the checks

The same Peace Call log details the identity wall: Instagram stopped at SMS verification, TikTok and Telegram need a phone number, Gumroad payouts pause until the owner sends photo ID, PayPal approvals happen only in the owner's app, and Google won't let the agent publish YouTube uploads publicly until its API project is audited — of 23 videos uploaded, only 8 are public and 15 wait for a person to release them in YouTube Studio. Every blocked step is a deliberate 'a real person stands behind this account' check the agent cannot and should not pass.

This only partly worked. Worth knowing before you try it.
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Every idea is a real post from someone who tried it, summarized in our words, with a link to the original. App names are swapped for plain words.