We stand at the precipice of what we’re told is the next great technological revolution. Venture capitalists are emptying their coffers, chipmakers have become trillion-dollar behemoths, and every startup is legally obligated to append "+ AI" to its name. The narrative is intoxicating: Generative AI will unlock unprecedented productivity, solve humanity's greatest challenges, and usher in an era of abundance.
But from the trenches—from the perspective of those actually trying to build complex, reliable products with these tools—a different story is emerging. The emperor, it seems, might be wearing no clothes. The current AI hype cycle isn't just overly optimistic; it’s a bubble of historic proportions, inflated by misallocated capital and promises the underlying technology simply can't keep. And just like the dot-com boom, the bust is not a matter of if, but when.
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