#AICrashOrComeback The recent shakiness in the stock market has everyone talking about the AI bubble. To be sure, the concerns didn’t come out of nowhere. Critics have been calling AI another mix of tech fantasy and financial bubble since soon after ChatGPT’s release at the end of 2022 because we know how these cycles work. More recently, establishment voices like Goldman Sachs and Sequoia Capital joined the chorus.
There’s no question tech stocks are overvalued and that part of that comes from the hype behind generative AI. The question isn’t whether there will be a market correction, but when it will happen and how deep the decline will be. It seems quite certain that while the recent stock market volatility did hint at underlying concerns about tech valuations, it was ultimately driven much more by growing questions about the Japanese market that briefly shook the wider confidence of investors.
I’m not going to pretend to gaze into a crystal ball and come back with an answer as to when this bubble will burst, but I do think it’s time we start thinking about the aftermath of the correction instead of just what’s happening right this moment — though that’s important to watch too. Tech bubbles operate on a cycle, but there’s also a cycle to the aftermath of the crash, where attention starts to move on before the tech itself has been properly taken care of.
The ChatGPT revolution is another tech fantasy
The crypto bubble imploded through 2022, but the crypto industry is far from dead. It’s one of the biggest funders in the ongoing US election cycle, seeking candidates that will pass permissive legislations for its fraudulent activities. The gig economy isn’t in the limelight these days either, even as Uber continues its campaign to carve workers out of employment law with significant consequences. Meanwhile, smart glasses are back and more invasive than ever, and social media continues to churn out social harm despite years of discussion about its problems.
We can’t allow that same cycle of entrenchment to play out with generative AI. Chatbots and image generators may have more tangible use cases than crypto, but that also means they can be used against people in many more ways once the hype fades. We need to understand what that may look like to try to proactively head it off.
