So… are we just calling everything ‘AI’ now?

Scroll to the end to see what Zuckerberg and Musk would look like in an actual fight.

Generated in MidJourney, edited in Photoshop Beta. Prompt: the evolution of modern technology, a mix of retro technology and modern iphones and laptops, iphones, macbook, retrofuturism, bubblegum pink lighting, editorial — ar 16:9

If it moves, it’s AI.

Or at least that’s what tech companies are hawking by slapping “AI” on everything.

• Your Google search? AI.
• Scrolling your socials? AI.
• Your therapy chatbot? AI.
• New washing machine? AI. AI. AI.

Add a dash of machine learning, sprinkle in some pattern recognition, automate a process — and voila — you’ve got yourself an “AI” product. It’s created an investment bubble where “AI-driven” is now a de facto label that translates to “look at us, we’re innovative.”

Tech history repeats itself

AI is in its dot-com bubble era, and if there’s anything we’ve learned from historical hype cycles, it’s that the rush to capitalize, the inflated expectations, and the social speculation usually lead to a hard reality check.

This might look like investors bankrolling AI startups only to realize the tech falls short or the market category is off. It might look like startups getting scooped up by Big Tech who corner the market entirely.