It did. I'm not sure AI has this energy. We quickly skipped the "early tinkering" phase of AI and jumped straight to the annoying "let's put this technology into everything" stage like the blockchain craze of ~2018+. Perhaps the difference is how "top-down" AI has been. Most of the push has come from massive companies trying to get people to use it instead of people finding it organically.
Early internet of 90s+ had a pretty easy learning curve. Think: HTML and a Javascript fart button. Whereas Machine Learning and Large Language Models aka AI have a pretty steep learning curve that I'm working on now. Bitcoin is kind of both, where one can easily interact with the coin trading and/or dive into the complex world of cryptography.
I miss when "fed-pegged lightning side chains" peddled by Blockstream, Luke, Greg et al was the biggest load of buzzwordy self-serving bullshit in the space.
