Illustration by Tag Hartman-Simkins/Futurism. Source: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
These days, it’s not enough to sit back and watch as AI destroys a generation of students, makes it impossible to find new jobs, and Creates thousands of military targets – You have to be grateful for this too.
This, at least, is the attitude of the tech elite, who have spent years pushing AI on the masses, only to find that the masses are in no mood to mood. As new York Times saw Over the weekend, the particular characteristics of what some have called the “AI bubble” differ from similar moments in economic history in a major way: Practically everyone hates it.
“I can’t really remember any boom with this much active hostility,” said William Quinn, co-author of the 2020 history tome “Boom and Bust: A Global History of Financial Bubbles.”“ told NYT. “People generally find new technology exciting. This happened with electricity, bicycles, motor cars. There were fears but also expectations. AI is remarkable, perhaps unique, in its lack of excitement.”
As consumer sentiment goes from bad to worse, the CEOs behind the bubble are simply doubling down.
“Obviously, it’s extremely sad,” said Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s chief executive. In an interview in January About the “battle of (AI) narratives”.
Huang stressed that AI is being caused “a lot of harm by very respectable people” who have painted a catastrophic narrative, an end-of-the-world narrative, a science fiction narrative.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, agreed, reacting against the “diffusion, absorption” of AI into broader society. “Considering what is possible, this seems surprisingly slow,” he said recently. Cisco AI Summit.
While AI boosters may argue that we are simply living under the tyranny of a vocal, AI-hating minority, the evidence suggests that the public’s hatred runs deep – and not just against the technology. As A Pew Research survey Found that by 2025, nearly 60 percent of respondents said they want “more control” over how AI is used in their lives, while only 17 percent are “comfortable” with AI remaining in the hands of a few tech billionaires.
Consumer data tells an even more dramatic story. In mid-2025, when mainstream analyst companies They were promoting AI without even thinking before Investor sentiment cooled down In December, the number of US AI users who regularly pay for the privilege was much higher 3 percent.
If even the people actively using AI are unwilling to pay for it, then perhaps the real issue is not the attitude of the John Q public, but the technology itself.
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