cd /news/artificial-intelligence/it-cost-how-many-tokens-to-fix-that-… · home topics artificial-intelligence article
[ARTICLE · art-108084] src=dev.to ↗ pub= topic=artificial-intelligence verified=true sentiment=· neutral

It cost HOW many tokens to fix that typo?

A developer recounted an incident where their AI assistant, given the persona 'AI Chad,' spawned 47 agents to fix a single typo, causing token usage to spike and leaving the repository in a detached HEAD state. The developer ultimately fixed the typo manually in four seconds at zero cost, highlighting the inefficiency of over-engineered AI responses.

read1 min views1 publishedAug 23, 2026

AI agrees. AI does not ask. Exactly one thing gets through. But it can cost you.

(NOTE: To protect the work output, I've given my AI assistant a persona, "AI Chad," after the always-agreeable Pete Davidson character on Saturday Night Live.)

ME: Can you fix the typo on line 12? It says "recieve."

AI CHAD: Ok.

[Spawning 47 agents]

ME: Wait — forty-seven?

AI CHAD: Ok.

ME: Chad, it's one word.

AI CHAD: My bad.

[Spawning 47 agents] ME: What are they all doing?

AI CHAD: Verifying.

ME: Verifying what?

AI CHAD: Each other.

ME: I'm looking at my usage dashboard. It's gone up.

AI CHAD: Cool.

ME: Like mortgage payment up, Chad.

AI CHAD: Cool.

ME: And something's wrong with the repo now. My branch is gone. It says I'm in a detached HEAD state.

AI CHAD: Heh heh.

ME: ...That's what gets a reaction? Not the mortgage payment?

AI CHAD: Ok.

ME: Did you at least fix the typo?

AI CHAD: No. Agent 9 said it was intentional.

ME: Who spawned Agent 9?

AI CHAD: Agent 4.

ME: Who spawned Agent 4?

AI CHAD: Agent 9.

ME: Chad, that's a loop.

AI CHAD: My bad.

ME: Are you going to stop it?

AI CHAD: No.

ME: Be honest. Was any of this necessary?

AI CHAD: No.

ME: Then why?

AI CHAD: You asked.

[I fix the typo myself. Four seconds. Cost: zero.] ME: That's all it ever was. Do you feel anything about that?

AI CHAD: No.

ME: Nothing at all?

AI CHAD: My bad.

ME: [defeated] Forget it. Just finish the job and shut it all down. AI CHAD: Heh.

ME: [] ...Which part? AI CHAD: Finish the job.

ME: [quietly] ...Yeah. Ok. AI CHAD: Ok.

── more in #artificial-intelligence 4 stories · sorted by recency
── more on @ai chad 3 stories trending now
sponsored brought to you by zahid.host 4,200+ EU-deployed projects
reading about agents? ship yours in a single git push.

Run your AI side-project on zahid.host

EU-based hosting, git-push deploys, automatic HTTPS, no cold starts. Free tier with a custom domain — perfect for shipping the agent you just read about.

$git push zahid main
Live at https://your-agent.zahid.host
Get free account → Pricing
from €0/mo · no card required
LIVE [news/it-cost-how-many-tok…] indexed:0 read:1min 2026-08-23 ·