As the AI market continues to balloon, experts are warning that its VC-driven rise is eerily similar to that of the dot com bubble.

    • gammasfor@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Yeah I was going to say VC throwing money at the newest fad isn’t anything new, in fact startups strive exploit the fuck out of it. No need to actually implement the fad tech, you just need to technobabble the magic words and a VC is like “here have 2 million dollars”.

      In our own company we half joked about calling a relatively simple decision flow in our back end an “AI system”.

    • whispering_depths@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      crypto and nft have nothing to do with AI, though. Investing in AI properly is like investing in Apple in the early 90’s.

      ultimately it won’t matter because if we get AGI, which is the whole point of investing in AI, stocks will become worthless.

      • Phlogiston@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        “stock will become worthless”

        I’m thinking the opposite might happen.

        If big companies succeed in capturing the knowledge workers market share and transferring all those salaries into their own profits then it will be reflected in the stock prices of those big companies. People, mostly currently rich people, who own those stock will benefit.

        Same as it ever was for other forms of automation or job outsourcing. Why would this be any different?

      • gammasfor@sh.itjust.works
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        1 year ago

        They meant in the sense that crypto/nft was the last fad that VCs were throwing money at.

        It’s actually hilariously transparent how dumb VCs are and how much tech companies exploit that. Every now and then they randomly get hyped by some big tech company over some ‘new’ Y idea, then suddenly they throw money at any company suggesting they are doing Y thinking they will be the next Google or Meta. Then they inevitably doesn’t materialise and they move onto the next fad.

        Through the years I’ve been in the industry we’ve had Big Data, followed by AI, followed by Cloud, followed by blockchain, followed by nfts, followed by metaverse and now back to AI again. And the tech companies don’t even need to implement any of this they just have to find a way to spin what they are doing to make it sound like the fad is what they’re doing.

    • higgs@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      NFTs yes but crypto is absolutely not a bubble. People are saying that for decades now and it hasn’t been truth. Yes there are shitcoins, just shitstocks. But in general, it’s definitely not a bubble but an alternative investing method beside stocks, gold etc.

      • qaz@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        NFTs yes but crypto is absolutely not a bubble. People are saying that for decades now and it hasn’t been truth. Yes there are shitcoins, just like shitstocks. But in general, it’s definitely not a bubble but an alternative investing method beside stocks, gold etc.

        What is the underlying mechanism that increases its value, like company earnings are to stocks? Otherwise, it’s just a reverse funnel scheme.

        • higgs@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          What’s the underlying mechanism that gives money a value? We the humans give money and gold a value because we believe they’re valuable. Same with crypto. Bitcoin is literally like gold but digital. Stop saying what everyone without knowledge says and inform yourself. Not only about crypto, also about money etc.

          If you don’t understand the fundamentals of money, how can you judge something of being scam. There are lot of people here who didn’t even understand how money and gold works.

          • bigschnitz@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Money has value insofar as governments use it to collect tax - so long as there’s a tax obligation, there’s a mandated demand for that currency and it has some value. Between different currencies, the value is determined based upon the demand for that currency, which is essentially tied to how much business is done in that currency (eg if a country sells goods in its own currency, demand for that currency goes up and so does it’s value).

            This is not the same for crypto, there are no governments collecting tax with it so it does not have induced demand. The value of crypto is 100% speculative, which is fine for something that is used as currency, but imo a terrible vehicle for investment.

            • Freesoftwareenjoyer@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              I don’t know if it’s good investment or not, but cryptocurrency has uses that are valuable to a lot of people. You can send money to other people without using a bank or PayPal and you can pay for things online anonymously. Some cryptocurrencies might have additional properties like Monero, which also gives you privacy. NFT might also have practical uses some day - for example it could be used for concert tickets.

            • higgs@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              You are right in that it increases people’s belief in money because it is the primary source of revenue for states. But if the majority of people did not believe in the piece of paper, it would be worth nothing. That is the fundamental value of money as we know it.

              There have been states where stones were the currency simply because the inhabitants believed in them.

              • SCB@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                Money is a physical representation of the concept of value. Saying “what gives money value” is like asking “why does rain make clouds.”

                This is why printing money decreases the value of the currency - the value it represents has not changed so the value is diluted across the currency as the amount of currency expands.

          • aesthelete@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            What’s the underlying mechanism that gives money a value?

            A) the government backing it up along with its advanced military

            B) the fact that you have to pay taxes in it

      • Platomus@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        The only way for someone to make money in crypto is for someone else to lose it.

        Crypto is a scam.

        • higgs@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          So what’s the difference to money, stocks or every other investing option? There’s has to be someone who loses so someone different can win. We’re living in a capitalistic system, that’s how it works.

          • bigschnitz@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Money isn’t an investment, it’s a currency. Of course it’s a bad investment and investing in forex is barely a better investment than crypto (purely because there’s less risk of a sovereign currency devaluing to 0).

            Investing in capital, like stocks, property, equipment etc does not require someone to lose money for the capital owner to profit. If I invest in a stock, each year I’m paid a dividend based on the profits of that organisation - no losers required. I could later sell that stock at the exact price I paid for it and come away with profit from those dividends. What determines whether it’s a good or bad investment, is the ratio of profit to the capital owner compared to cost of the asset. Crypto generates 0 profit, so it has 0 value as a capital investment.