Keen On

Bubble or not? But the debate that’s been raging over the current AI exuberance might be missing the bigger point. Yes, of course, it’s a trillion-dollar speculative bubble built around AI start-ups that mostly remain unprofitable. But as I note in my weekly tech conversation with That Was The Week publisher Keith Teare (who is significantly more optimistic than me), it’s more than just another Silicon Valley bubble. From the Trump family’s multi-trillion dollar cryptocurrency speculation to an increasingly pervasive online sports gambling culture (especially amongst young Americans), the new epidemic in America is one of speculation. A hundred years after the Roaring Twenties we are back where we started. I don’t know how it will end. Maybe there will be a 21st century version of Warren Harding’s Teapot Dome Scandal, maybe another Wall Street Crash. But I guarantee you two things: It will end, and that ending won’t be pretty - neither for America nor for the world. I’m even betting on it. 1. The Speculation