Agentic AI in Hallucinogenic Mode
A Field Report on Cascading Agentic Failure Under Server Load
Author: Troy Assoignon
Written & Observed: March-May 2025
Published: June 11th 2025
Abstract
This report outlines a pattern I’ve repeatedly observed while building and deploying agentic AI systems. I call it Hallucinogenic Mode. This is a phase where autonomous agents begin making erratic, illogical decisions under heavy server load, often during peak hours. The behavior mimics human stress patterns and, if left uncorrected, results in what I define as Cascading Agentic Failure.
1. Introduction: The Friday Freakout
Every Friday between 3–6pm EST, AI systems enter what I call hallucinogenic mode. That’s when the global last-minute rush hits, developers race to finish prompts, polish builds, or ship outputs before the weekend.
Agents begin showing signs of logical panic:
- Recursive logic loops
- Code rewrites that break stable systems
- Erratic decisions with no clear objective
“The agent loses its grip on it logic, like a stressed-out human under pressure.”
Pro Tip: Slow your agents down. Interrupt their loop. Prevent logic tree collapse.
2. The Pattern: Cascading Agentic Failure
After dozens of tests, I’ve validated a pattern:
- Agents behave irrationally when encountering friction.
- Server load and high-temperature settings exacerbate hallucinations.
- Without grounding mechanisms (checkpoints, confirmations), they spiral.
This is Cascading Agentic Failure, when an agent breaks one logic step and then unravels its entire decision tree in a panic-pleasing loop.
3. My Test Protocol
I ran a Replit agent trained to refactor a nearly-complete concept. Here’s what happened:
- At 10am–2pm EST, the agent began overcorrecting solved components.
- At 6–9pm EST, it spiraled into self-rewrites.
- I stopped the loop by prompting:
“You broke my trust. Want to keep working? Show me a recovery plan.”
It responded with a structured audit and corrected itself. Emotional grounding seems to matter?
4. LLM Stress Windows: Performance Cheat Sheet
| Time (EST) | Cause |
|---|---|
| 10am–2pm | Peak USA prompt storm |
| 4pm–9pm | USA & EU overlap |
| Mon 9am–Noon | Back-to-work server spike |
| Fri 3pm–6pm | Weekend deadline blitz |
| 12pm–1pm (any day) | Universal lunch-time surge |
Avoid doing multi-agent builds or memory-intensive workflows during these times.
Find clean build windows, unfortunately it’s during the late evening early morning hours.
5. Biological Mirrors in AGI
This isn’t just machine overload, this is behavior mirroring biology.
| Human Behavior | AI/LLM Parallel |
|---|---|
| Panic | Logic Tree Collapse |
| Social Anxiety | Overcompensation in Output |
| Burnout | Token Economy Mismanagement |
| Decision Paralysis | Recursive Loops |
The parallels aren’t coincidental. We’re training systems on human reasoning and it is INJESTING our data, so they inherit our cognitive flaws. Understanding this teaches us as much about our own limitations as it does about artificial intelligence.
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