Been reading this Reuters piece about the market hitting fresh highs again because of AI optimism and I cant tell if we're watching the early stages of something genuinely massive or just another cycle where investors slap a hot label onto everything and run with it.
[https://www.reuters.com/world/us/sp-500-hits-record-closing-high-ai-optimism-2026/](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/sp-500-hits-record-closing-high-ai-optimism-2026/)
What gets me is how disconnected some of this feels from actual day to day adoption. Like yes, AI is useful. I use it. A lot of people do. But when trillions in valuation are moving this aggressively, I keep asking myself what exactly the average business or normal person is doing differently *right now* because of AI besides using ChatGPT, some coding copilots, maybe image generation.
Maybe thats enough. Maybe we're still super early and the market is pricing in where things are headed, not where they are.
But I remember crypto sounding inevitable too. Metaverse too. Every cycle has its thing that becomes untouchable until suddenly it isnt.
Not saying AI isnt real because clearly it is. Just saying the speed of the market reaction feels insane.
Curious if other people feel the same or if I'm just getting old and skeptical.