In your opinion, is the US economy currently in an AI bubble?

Yes (76%) – "It appears the AI bubble is sucking up the majority of investor money. Inflation is scary with the turmoil in Iran. Cost of living, especially regarding housing and new car purchases is not good. Too much uncertainity is keeping money in safer non-AI assets. Until Trump resolves the Middle East conflict, I don't see the economy improving. Stock market is only inflated due to AI and correction bubble seems imminent."

• "It's difficult to tell how large the bubble is with all the inflated headlines, but it certainly seems that AI gurus have overpromised and, so far, pretty dramatically underdelivered. But that doesn't mean AI is going to go. The dot com bubble burst aggressively and we still have websites and tech companies and the internet permeating our daily lives. AI might have the same staying power, just in a different niche than what's currently being pushed."

"Multi-billion dollar, interlocking multi-company investments have been made to produce custom AI chips, coding & infrastructure - all based on a promise of rapid corporate adoption and a hoped-for future return. All of that investment money was very real - the big question remains as to how realistic the efficiency claims were - and how much patience the markets are willing to extend waiting on returns. If there is a collapse, the Dot-Com crash of 2000 will pale in comparison."

• "AI in its current form is unsustainable, not just from a financial perspective, but from a physical resource perspective as well. Additionally, the mass layoffs that are occurring in favor of replacing employees with AI will have a massive ripple effect in terms of retail and consumer buying power. Personally, I’m hopeful that it will result in the public demanding more safety nets to protect themselves from AI usage (privacy laws, unionization for employment protections, environmental regulations, etc.)"

"We are seeing many warning signs similar to what happened before the dot com bubble burst, but on an even larger scale. It may take longer than you expect, but this AI boom is unprofitable and overhyped. Investors are handing these companies effectively infinite supplies of money before any clear utility beyond turning advertisements into AI slop. It really shows capitalisms true face when hundreds of billions can be invested in a new toy that isn’t actually improving anything, but are never ready to be spent on the real living people in this country when so many are barely keeping afloat. It’s time that Americans realize the system they struggle to uphold is actively harming their material lives and needs to be removed in order for humans to flourish."

• "It feels like a bubble, where companies are investing heavily in AI but gains won't be immediate or realized as quick as what is being hyped. However, companies, especially public companies, are pressured to reduce staff and (artificially?) demonstrate efficiencies."

"The 'old' ways end slowly and the 'new' ways start slowly. It takes a long while to readjust to the new and adapt the old, especially when 'looking good' and not really being able to integrate the new into the old network is such a walk through a 'mine field' of entrenched behavior. When the bubble bursts I think you can guess what the noxious gas inside will smell like."

No (14%) – "I don't think we are in a bubble as AI advances are made daily. I do think we are becoming weary of AI slop, so we may see a bit of a pullback. However, as AI continues to develop and serve more applications, it will become more deeply ingrained in our society. Notice that all three of the examples you gave were particular to Claude. I have also noticed Claude is charging more. Claude will adapt or people will move on to a different tool."

• "I am greatly benefiting from AI use. I believe that many employees have not adjusted their mindset in order to understand or appreciate the pluses and do not comprehend how to minimize the negatives."

Unsure/other (10%) – "I am unsure about this but wish that we were being more strategic as a country. The lack of any federal response is causing states to be less responsive or overly responsive and that is not a good thing. With something of the magnitude of AI on our economy, workforce, energy infrastructure, etc., there needs to be more than a laissez-faire approach. I think that China will come out as a model in this with lessons that the rest of the world will learn from them."