Intentional Design of Generative AI Hype Bubble Failure

Determine whether the generative artificial intelligence hype bubble was deliberately orchestrated to ultimately fail, with the strategic objectives of generating short‑term profits and establishing infrastructure dependencies—such as increased reliance on cloud computing services—before critical scrutiny or practical realities could undermine adoption.

Background

The essay argues that even as the generative AI hype bubble deflates, its harmful effects—environmental impacts, labor discipline, and erosion of the information commons—will persist due to infrastructural entanglement and path dependency.

In discussing how hype can entrench technologies by creating dependencies that are difficult to unwind, the authors pose a lingering, unresolved question about intent: whether the generative AI hype was engineered to fail as part of a strategy to secure profits and lock‑in infrastructure before critique or reality could catch up.