Most people talk about AI in two ways: hype or skepticism.
Either it changes everything for the better, or it fails to live up to the promise.
But there’s a darker possibility hiding in the middle:
AI could become a problem in both scenarios.
If it underdelivers, the economic fallout from overinvestment, debt, and inflated expectations could spread far beyond tech.
If it succeeds, large-scale automation could weaken income stability, reduce consumer demand, and quietly damage the job market it was supposed to improve.
That’s the real question I keep coming back to in 2026:
What if AI doesn’t need to fail to create economic damage?
In this article, I break down why both success and failure may be more dangerous than most people expect.
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