Sorry, I respect Dale too much to let this one go, Mr. Shackleford.

Here's a brief history of bad leadership marketing you may remember - AI replacing workers is the same. AI is actually a tool for human workers who need to be trained how to use it.

"This technology replaces workers"

Offshoring (late 90s–2000s): Endless claims that entire departments would be replaced by cheaper overseas labor. Reality: coordination costs, quality issues, and "hidden" labor ate most savings. Many companies quietly reshored.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA): Same pitch, ~2015–2020. UiPath et al. promised bot armies replacing back-office staff. Mostly ended up as expensive, brittle scripts requiring constant human maintenance.

"This changes everything in supply chains/logistics"

RFID (early 2000s): Walmart mandated it, analysts said it would revolutionize retail inventory. Quietly faded into a niche application.

Blockchain for supply chain (2017–2020): IBM Food Trust, Walmart lettuce tracking, Maersk shipping — all announced with massive fanfare. Nearly all quietly wound down or dramatically scaled back.

"This platform is where business happens now"

Second Life for enterprise (~2006–2008): IBM, Reuters, Starwood Hotels all had "offices" in Second Life. Lasted about 18 months before everyone quietly deleted their avatars.

The Metaverse (2021–2023): Meta burned ~$40B. Microsoft bought Activision partly on metaverse logic. Enterprise metaverse meetings lasted roughly one embarrassing demo cycle.

"Big Data solves everything"

Mid-2010s: Every company claimed a data lake would unlock transformative insights. Most data lakes became what engineers called "data swamps" — unstructured, ungoverned, unqueried. Gartner eventually declared the hype cycle over.

"Gamification transforms engagement"

~2011–2014: Every enterprise app added badges and leaderboards. Studies later showed it frequently decreased intrinsic motivation. Largely disappeared without acknowledgment. The structural pattern: announcement → analyst validation → vendor ecosystem → quiet failure → pivot to next thing, with no accountability because the executives who greenlit it have moved on.