But for now at least, AI is best thought of as a boom – one that may turn into a bust – rather than as a bubble. Whenever a radical new technology such as AI comes along, there is considerable uncertainty about its value. That will manifest as an investment boom that turns to bust – not a bubble that deflates. The biggest reason to call this a boom rather than a bubble, however, is the driving force behind it: a small group of established technology giants with coldly rational reasons to spend hundreds of billions on AI. To repeat, this is not a claim that AI will triumph, that market expectations are correct or that boom will not turn to bust.

Source: The Irish Times January 01, 2026 12:01 UTC