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The A.I. “Grift Shift” Is Underway
We’ve burned through a copious amount of ‘next big things’ in the last few years — and the latest one is here
Crypto.
NFTs.
Metaverse.
Web3/Web5.
It’s well known that technology moves at breakneck speed, but the last few years have seen the tech industry burn through copious amounts of next “big thing” at record pace. Those trying to cash in on the latest trend — the grifters — are pivoting so fast they must be suffering whiplash.
Well, prepare to pivot again.
The next “big thing” is here: A.I.
But first, a quick recap on the fate of the last few game-changing concepts.
Crypto misses the moon
Fuelled by the pandemic lockdowns and stimulus checks, cryptocurrency endured its biggest bull run yet in late 2021, touching highs of $67,567.
It caused quite a frenzy. Crypto projects popped up everywhere, and crazed investors couldn’t pump their money in fast enough. It’s going to the moon! rejoiced the hodlers and diamond hands.
But it didn’t make it to the moon. The rocket ship barely left orbit before turning back towards planet earth and crash-landing — and the repercussions were felt far and wide. The price drop had severe knock-on effects, most notably the collapse of crypto exchanges, which left billions of dollars up in smoke and shattered what little trust was left in the industry to self-regulate itself.
The so-called Crypto Winter is looking more like a Crypto Ice Age. Many who pumped the coins have gone silent. Laser eyes have been swiftly removed from Twitter profiles. Elon Musk has stopped shouting about (read: price pumping) Dogecoin. It’s already over.
Still, there were always NFTs, right?
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