Is A Tech Winter Looming?

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

With AI bouncing around the world like a kid on a sugar high and the fever pitched proclamations of the technorati claiming technology is changing everything, everywhere, all at once, it may seem odd to talk about a technology winter. But one may well be coming. Why?

Much of my work is helping organisations understand how, why and where humans and culture use technology. Through UX research and netnography. I’ve enjoyed living through a few hype cycles and even launching technology products in these hype cycles, taking advantage of them. One gets a sense of how these things unfold.

Then there’s the recent article by Rodney Brooks, the founder of iRobot with its best known product, Roomba, skittering about houses around the world. He believes a technology winter may be coming and more so for Artificial Intelligence. There have been discussions of a tech backlash as well. Other bright minds are beginning to think we’ve plateaued for some technologies.

While it is impossible to predict an absolute tech winter, there are signals in the noise that suggest something is happening. I believe this is the invisible hand of culture coupled with the deflating balloon of hype around AI, economically and culturally.

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