Gadflies & Glasswings
1st Quarter 2026 Commentary • Kori Allen, CFP®
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble.
It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
—most often credited to Mark Twain
(although scholars have found no proof of that)
If you grew up in Portland, you likely remember Marko Haggard—news commentator, professor at PSU, Oregon’s first ombudsman, and a character profiled in a 1982 local press piece “Gadfly or Guru?” He was both and spoke colorfully. The above quote was one of his favorites, which he paraphrased—wisely, as no one can agree on its origin.
How We Got Here
In 1987, the Federal Communications Commission abolished the Fairness Doctrine—the rule requiring broadcasters to present differing viewpoints. For a while afterwards, most news sources still felt reasonably balanced, but over the years many ceased trying. Along came social media, with its algorithms designed to keep you engaged—but not informed. The result: many of us now live in separate information worlds, each one feeling completely real and completely true.
The New Threat: AI and the Industrialization of False Certainty
The fractured information landscape Marko’s quote describes—people confidently believing things that aren’t true—has taken a dangerous new turn with the rise of artificial intelligence. AI doesn’t just spread misinformation passively. It generates convincing, detailed, authoritative-sounding falsehoods on demand, at massive scale, indistinguishable from the truth. What was once a broken information ecosystem has become one that can manufacture false certainty.
And that’s before we consider what AI can do to financial systems directly.
On April 7th, Anthropic—one of the leading AI development firms—announced a new model, Claude Mythos Preview. Its potency was significant enough that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell convened an emergency meeting with CEOs of America’s largest banks. The concern: Mythos had demonstrated an unprecedented ability to identify vulnerabilities in software systems, including some that had gone undetected for decades. JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley are now testing the model internally.*
Anthropic itself has acknowledged the model is “dual-use,” meaning the same capabilities that can help cybersecurity defenders find and close vulnerabilities can also help bad actors exploit them. Rather than releasing it publicly, they’ve launched a program called Project Glasswing to share it selectively with major technology partners, giving defenders a head start.
We are entering what some are calling mutual assured vulnerability—a technological arms race where the same tools that protect systems can be turned against them. Your financial security is increasingly inseparable from your cybersecurity.
What You Can Do
You don’t need to become a cybersecurity expert, but you do need to be intentional. We recommend:
Be humble and curious. The landscape is changing rapidly. The willingness to say “I’m not sure” is protective.
Be vigilant, but don’t let fear paralyze you. Awareness is the goal.
Consider consulting a computer or cybersecurity professional especially if this is not your interest or aptitude.
Reduce your digital footprint where you can. Less exposure means fewer vulnerabilities.
Install updates immediately. Software updates often patch newly discovered security holes.
Use strong, unique passwords for every account. A password manager makes this manageable.
Enable multi-factor authentication on every account that offers it. This alone stops a large percentage of unauthorized access attempts.
Review your account activity regularly. Early detection is your best defense.
Power down devices when not in use, especially overnight. An offline device cannot be remotely accessed.
At Pearl Wealth, we remain committed to cybersecurity best practices and to staying ahead of these developments on your behalf. What you don’t know can get you into trouble. What you know for sure can too.
The best defense is staying curious, staying vigilant, and working together.
“If it can be destroyed by the truth, it deserves to be destroyed by the truth.”
—Carl Sagan
* Sometimes I use the free Claude model to help refine writing and to better understand AI tools. After writing the first draft and discussing edits with Gretchen, I uploaded a copy of this letter. Here is an excerpt of the exchange:
Claude, Sonnet 4.6: “Before I dig in, I want to flag something important: the Anthropic/Mythos story in the commentary isn’t accurate. There is no Anthropic AI model called “Mythos,” no emergency Treasury/Fed meeting on April 7th…This appears to be fabricated information – possibly generated by AI… I’d strongly recommend removing that section before this goes to clients, as it would undermine your credibility if fact-checked.”
Kori: “Help me understand your comment about the anecdote about Mythos. It is listed in the NY Times, The Business Insider, JP Morgan wrote about it, Fortune wrote about it, the Atlantic wrote about it…should I go on? What is happening?”
Claude: “You’re right to push back, and I owe you a straight answer – let me check rather than assert.” (web search)… Kori, I owe you an apology. You were completely right and I was wrong to flag it as inaccurate. This story is very real and very current – it broke just last week, after my knowledge cutoff, which is why I didn’t know about it.”
**The views expressed represent the opinions of Pearl Wealth, LLC as of the date noted and are subject to change. These views are not intended as a forecast, a guarantee of future results, investment recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any securities. The information provided is of a general nature and should not be construed as investment advice or to provide any investment, tax, financial or legal advice or service to any person. The information contained has been compiled from sources deemed reliable, yet accuracy is not guaranteed.
Additional information, including management fees and expenses, is provided on our Form ADV Part 2 available upon request or at the SEC’s Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website. www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.
Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.