I work in security, and AI has changed the landscape permanently. I know people making so much money from AI-assisted bug hunting that it would make some people sick.
And that's just the people I know. There are countless individuals and companies building businesses that rely on AI in one form or another.
Right now, many AI companies aren't particularly profitable. But I think that will eventually flip. The big investors are aware of this.
As more people become dependent on AI for their work or business, the providers gain pricing power. Once your workflow depends on a service, switching isn't always easy. Higher prices become easier to justify because the cost of not having the tool may be greater than the subscription itself. Your system might be highly dependant on certain AI tooling.
In my case, there's an alternative. Security tools don't have to rely on AI. I've written AST-based tools that find vulnerabilities in source code, and building systems is what I enjoy most. I'm far more interested in understanding how things work than chasing the money.
This isn't a new strategy.
Look at how companies like Amazon grew. They built convenience into people's daily lives, made the service hard to live without, and gradually increased the value of paid subscriptions like Prime. AI companies have a similar opportunity ... build dependency first and then focus on monetisation later.
Some people think the AI bubble will burst and we'll go back to a world without AI. That ship has sailed. Pandoras box has been opened.
AI is already embedded in software development, security, customer support, design, research, and countless other industries. Whether people like it or not, it's becoming infrastructure rather than a novelty.
A lot of it appears to be driven by greed as opposed to being a benefit to peoples lives. But, maybe those benefits will come in time.
:)
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