Investing August 16, 2026 0 Comments

When Cutting-Edge AI Turns Nightmare: How My Redmi Note 10 Became a Brick and What It Means for the Future of Tech Investment

Ever had one of those weeks where digital chaos decides to throw a curveball right at your tech-savvy face? Well, I just survived one — a whirlwind of digital decluttering gone sideways, resulting in the demise of not one, but two phones, a stubborn hard disk filled with precious family memories, and a revelation about the true limits of AI assistance. It’s funny how the gadgets we rely on to keep us connected can sometimes turn into the very things that test our patience and resilience. Ever wondered what happens when you push your tech just a little too far, mixing DIY tech wizardry with a pinch of AI guidance that’s, well… less than perfect? Grab a seat, because this story’s got the bitter, the sweet, and a whole lot of “uh-oh” moments that might just change how you think about backing up your life and trusting your digital helpers. LEARN MORE

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I did some small digital decluttering this week by throwing away some stuff that isn’t working:

I bought the Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 earbuds in Oct 2023 so that lasted me like 2.5 years. Feels pretty short.

The most painful loss on this list was one of the hard disk. I actually put my late mom and dad’s scanned statements on there and throw away the paper copy.

I realized one day (not really too soon after I transferred into it) that I cannot access it! I also am not sure what I have lost there. Should I have a better backup strategy for these kind of documents? I am also not so sure because some of you might not even keep them.

I lost two phones in a week.

The phone on the right is the Redmi 8 (a 2019 Xiaomi phone) and the left is a Redmi Note 10 Pro (a 2021 Xiaomi phone). I would usually use my Android phone for 2 years then buy a new phone. These were two of my consecutive phones before my current Samsung A35 and Poco X8 Pro Max.

I was using the Redmi 8 as a 4G modem connected to my GL INET router to serve internet to my entire home. You can read about it here:

I was using it for a while but recently it started to switch off by itself. As I have some home networking stuff that I would access on the go, and also some lighting and vacuum schedule, this has become a problem.

So I decided that I should perhaps “prepare” my Redmi Note 10 Pro to be its successor.

Why do I need to prepare it?

Well… I will be connecting the phone to the router continuously. My Redmi 8’s battery swell and bloat for a few cycles. There is no setting on the phone to control the phone charging such that it will stop charging before say 90% and start charging if it falls to 60%. I actually bought like 3 batteries from AliExpress to replace it.

These are all Android phones and if you can Unlock your phone, you can install a custom ROM. A ROM is like an operating system. These custom ROM is crafted by the community out there.

Some of the custom ROMs build in these charge regulation functionality.

I decided that I want to unlock my Redmi 10, then root and install a custom ROM. I would like to do it on my new second hand Dell Latitude 7480 install with a Linux operating system.

I was using Claude through Terminal to find out how to unlock the Redmi 10 through USB connection. It was able to give the instructions and link up pretty well.

I was enjoying the experience of not having to do so much reading and hunting down “how to unlock your phone if your computer is on a Linux machine”.

It just works.

My Redmi 10 was successfully unlocked.

Now I want to Root my phone, which means to get super admin access, and then install the custom rom.

So I continue to follow its instructions to download this Magisk file and another custom but standard ROM file for Rooting.

And that is where the trouble starts.

After the initial instructions and my execution, the phone reboots and just goes into a boot loop. This means the phone just go into a sequence of boot, didn’t get anywhere, and then restart again.

Honestly, if you have done these things on Android phones… this is quite normal.

I told Claude what happen and he say okay, you got to wipe/format more things than Claude’s original instructions. So I did that.

Then it doesn’t work.

Then it suggested that in another web resource, to stop this boot loop we need to install a stock ROM, which is a ROM that is issued by the manufacturer Xiaomi but available for download online for my model.

I did that and… now my Redmi 10 WON’T EVEN TURN ON.

Claude then… tells me that…. actually he forgot to tell me this approach is actually the more risky approach. And if not done right, I won’t be able to recover the phone. To restore potentially, I need to bring to a Xiaomi authorized repair shop for them to use their supplier credentials to unlock it.

So I lost a good phone (with a cracked screen).

Epilogue – There are limitations to what this AI thingy can do

Now to share some context, I have been rooting, installing custom ROMs on Android phone for years. I know the risks. There were so many times when I was doing these stuff with my past (and present) Android phones that I thought I lost the phone forever.

The boot loops are not new to me.

But you know… as a human, I never for once in the unlock/root/rom installation process killed any of my past phone. They all died of naturally old age.

Which is what happen to the Redmi 8 when it starts rebooting in a loop and then I cannot switch on anymore.

So now I am relying on my old Xiaomi Mi Max 2 (2017), which I rooted and install custom ROM long ago as the Router 4G modem.

So that is how I lost 2 phones in a busy work week.

I made a request to see if anyone in Providend has some old phones they would like to sell but likely the phones that 2 of my co-workers extended to me was… too good LOL. So am in the market for one.

I wasn’t so angry with myself for just following Claude’s instructions.

I was just horrified that it just went into find-and-just-tell-Kyith mode instead of being more thoughtful of the resources. It shocked me because I been using it for a while and there were many instance it would consider and infer more which was a more pleasant experience.

Perhaps its how Terminal Claude is oriented and this is how it is.

As a Terminal Claude user for a while, I have this lackluster experience for a while that I cannot explain and I think it ends up to this horror show.

This kind of emphasize that different models of AI, with different degree of information and data access, with different IT resources, would give varied experiences.

AI is like that junior employee who don’t know much. You ask it to do something it will do it. Some of the junior employee have better orientation, stronger critical thinking abilities and they would try to process all this better, be cautious when you didn’t tell them to.

But there are some that may just treat it as you-tell-me-so-I-do-lor-die-is-because-you-tell-me-wan.

That is how I view AI.

Kyith is the Owner and Sole Writer behind Investment Moats. Readers tune in to Investment Moats to learn and build stronger, firmer wealth foundations, how to have a Passive investment strategy, know more about investing in REITs and the nuts and bolts of Active Investing.

Readers also follow Kyith to learn how to plan well for Financial Security and Financial Independence.

Kyith worked as an IT operations engineer from 2004 to 2019. Currently, he works as a Senior Solutions Specialist in Fee-only Wealth Advisory Firm Providend. All opinions on Investment Moats are his own and does not represent the views of Providend.

You can view Kyith’s current portfolio here, which uses his Free Google Stock Portfolio Tracker.

His investment broker of choice is Interactive Brokers, which allows him to invest in securities from different exchanges all over the world, at very low commission rates, without custodian fees, near spot currency rates.

You can read more about Kyith here.