We held our block party this week, where I was reminded that I have lived at this address for more than forty years. This makes me one of the longest residents. At this party I had the opportunity to meet two of the neighborhood’s newest residents, two young women, one of which like me is a computer science major. In our conversation the subject of artificial intelligence arose. She was decidedly negative about this rise. Exclaiming that it is taking over.

Maybe not in a literal sense but certainly sucking the air out of everything else and to what end. I like to use AI to make images for this blog, but to me it is just a toy. I have noticed its improvement over the last few years, but gaining familiarity with it also exposes its flaws. It is extremely derivative, like on any single subject, it has one good idea, and it keeps circling around back to it.

Like with past tech bubbles this one will continue to suck in more money and resources, growing ever bigger, until something happens and the bubble bursts and it all comes falling down. Markets will retract. Economic disruption will ensue, but eventually, like a phoenix the technology will rise again. This time around growth will be slower but more stable and hopefully more sustainable.