> [!info]- meta > **Author**: [[Cory Doctorow]] > **Full Title**: What kind of bubble is AI? (permalink) > **Category**: #articles > **Tags**: #ai > **Summary**: Cory Doctorow's column discusses the AI bubble, highlighting that many AI startups lack real value and rely on investor subsidies. He warns that when these subsidies end, the viability of AI applications will depend on their actual merits rather than promises. The column emphasizes the potential risks of AI integration in the economy, especially if the bubble bursts unexpectedly. > > **Source URL**: https://pluralistic.net/2023/12/19/bubblenomics/ ## 🔦 Highlights & Commentary - AI applications can be plotted on a 2X2 grid whose axes are "value" (how much customers will pay for them) and "risk tolerance" (how perfect the product needs to be). ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01js75yp2njqxysvtae89jdeam)) - There's no business case for spending hundreds of billions on better safety systems for cars (there's a human case for it, though!). The only way the price-tag justifies itself is if paid drivers can be fired and replaced with software that costs less than their wages. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01js762r5p7x5axj51kdct6vjs)) ^108946 - The profit-generating pitch for high-value AI applications lies in creating "reverse centaurs": humans who serve as appendages for automation that operates at a speed and scale that is unrelated to the capacity or needs of the worker: ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01js7642zfg4vwnv2zdfv70hsc)) ^1ba9c8 - Certainly, a lot of people will have gained skills in applying statistical techniques. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01js79c73kxe7pbdr460dr3syb)) - As big AI models get integrated into the processes of the productive economy, AI becomes a source of systemic risk. ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01js79cjkps8pe2vcfzq2rh2cb)) ^8f7f19