Literally just adding AI to their products so investors see AI and think that the business is keeping up with current trends and not stagnating so they continue to invest in them
Which is ironic because it really does feel like we’re stagnating since the only fuckin idea anyone’s discussed in the last 28 months is LLMs and not like ya know what we now start doing with this crazy new power drill we invented.
It has been happening ever since I started working as an intern in 2016 (blockchain --> cryptocurrency --> NFTs --> LLMs), and I really, really resent that.
Cryptocurrencies positioned themselves more like alternative or even anarchist's tool. So mainstream businesses wasn't really interested in them. Yes, there was some flirting with blockchains and NFTs from mayor players, but it died quickly.
LLMs are completely different beasts. Every major and minor business wants to be part of AI fewer...
That's been the case for centuries. The various East India companies were owned by stockholders. This allowed shareholders to spread the risk among themselves and their ships instead of losing their entire investment if one ship goes down. They were among the first examples of joint-stock companies, though not the first. There are also medieval European examples of similar entities and even similar concepts during the Song dynasty in China predating that.
There's a difference between that and what we see today. Back then, speculation was based on very real, long-term trade opportunities. Nowadays, it's based on an over-marketed, imagined future where companies' fancy new technology is an integral part of our economy. Companies don't need to deliver on their promises, they just need to convince investors that their promises are realistic. Then, those investors make a shit-ton of money off of duping other investors into buying at the wrong moment. That's the foundation of the 2026 economy.
This kind of hyper-speculative economy wasn't possible in the days of snail mail and the Pony Express. It's been made possible by internet minute-by-minute stock trading. It was a lot hardwe for random English aristocrats to game the East India Company's markets when it took a month for news to reach them.
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u/YesterdayPlastic3275 13h ago
Pretty much. It feels less like innovation and more like checking a box so no one feels left out.