Count me as doubtful

The New York Times runs some commentary on the AI bubble situation:  Why the A.I. Boom Is Unlike the Dot-Com Boom.

I have heard this argument before, as some Youtube video argued that the money being put into AI expansion is largely cash the giant tech companies have brought over from the tax haven of Ireland, so who really cares if they blow it away, big time?  They are still making wild amounts of money from what they have been doing pre-AI, anyway.

The article does claim this (my bold), without further explanation:

A.I. is very different, Mr. Horowitz contended. The internet is a network, and its value increases as more people are added, he said. Online retailers in 1996 could reach only a small fraction of the population. Amazon now reaches just about everyone.

A.I., on the other hand, is a computer, Mr. Horowitz said. “Computers can be valuable immediately. A.I. is certainly valuable immediately,” he added. “A.I. products are working so well that we are seeing revenue growth that dwarfs anything that came before it.” 

Really? 

The irony is that, even before scores of new AI centres are built, there is an obvious online backlash against AI slop and its unreliability in many fields.   I myself could tell some stories about that from my work, but that would disclose a bit too much...