At Founders Fund, I hear dozens of pitches for new companies every month, and for the past year or so — regardless of who the founders are, or what product they’re pitching — someone will say “artificial intelligence” within the first five minutes of our meeting.

AI is a transformative technology (and we definitely don’t need another think piece explaining why). There will be AI companies that upgrade daily life to at least the same degree as fiber optic cable or smartphones. But, as a buzzword, AI’s sudden ubiquity is not purely a function of its business potential.

The average investor does not spend all day simply searching for the best new company; they spend all day searching for the best new company in a socially approved technology “space.”  Twenty years ago, that space was e-commerce, the “dot.com”-ing of brick-and-mortar stores. Fifteen years ago, “social-mobile-local.” Ten years ago, the “sharing economy.” Three years ago, gaming and crypto. Now, it’s artificial intelligence.