{
  "id": 3012109,
  "title": "The AI ‘new era’ illusion: why every boom looks different—but ends the same",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/24/the-ai-new-era-illusion-why-every-boom-looks-different-but-ends-the",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-08-24T11:30:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fast Company",
    "slug": "fast-company",
    "url": "https://www.fastcompany.com/91591730/ai-new-era-illusion-why-every-boom-looks-different-ends-same"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The early 20th century, just as the early 21st century, was marked by a sense of optimism. Financial panics of the past and new technologies like electricity and internal combustion were gaining ground. Morganization was creating trusts, insulated from competition. Financial journalist Alexander Dana Noyes noted that the market operated under the assumption that we were living in a New Era, with old rules and principles being obsolete. However, the old rules still held sway, and irrational exuberance led directly to the Panic of 1907. This highlights the issue with \"new era\" thinking: it benefits innovators but also attracts marginal players and hucksters, amplifying the boom and increasing risk across the system. The gravity-defying economics of increasing returns led to \"winner-take-all markets,\" where the fastest firms reap incredible benefits. Venture capitalists poured massive amounts of capital into these businesses, leading to deregulation and failures. By 2000, the market peaked, the bubble burst, and high-profile companies like Enron, WorldCom, and Arthur Andersen went bankrupt. The false promise of financial engineering similarly emerged in the 1960s with the discovery of Louis Bachelier's paper, which led to a revolution in mathematical finance. Economists developed theories and models based on the concept that markets could be rational, giving birth to an entire industry of financial engineering and risk management. However, early warnings about the volatility of actual market data were ignored, and the idea that mathematical formulas could engineer risk out of the system proved to be a mirage. The concept of \"new era thinking\" has resurfaced with the advent of AI, promising astounding advancements in various tasks. Investment in AI technology is set to double to $700 billion this year, with investor Paul Kedrosky estimating it has surpassed the dot-com boom. However, there are concerning signs, such as 95% of companies investing in AI for their employees not seeing a return. Despite the allure of AI's potential, history shows that such booms often end the same way.",
  "summary": "The beginning of the 20th century, much like the beginning of the 21st, was an era of increasing optimism. The financial panics of 1873 and 1893 were in the past, new technologies like electricity and internal combustion were just gaining traction and Morganization was creating trusts insulated from the ravages of competition. The financial journalist Alexander Dana Noyes wrote at the time that…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}