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8 SMT007 MAGAZINE I JANUARY 2026 S M T PE R S PECT I V E S & PRO S PECT S 12 Use Cases for Artificial Intelligence in 2026 At a committee meeting in Washington, D.C., someone asked me if I think AI is a bubble. Over the past several months, this has become a preva- lent and pervasive question in both business circles and broader society. Yet, despite its ubiquity, no one had ever asked me that question directly, and especially with such immediacy in front of a com- mittee. My instinctive reply was, "It depends on how you define the bubble. It is certainly not an inter- net bubble." The querier lamented, almost disap- pointed, "Well, you are in the minority." The question has lingered with me, prompting deeper reflection. Is AI a bubble? Could it become one? If not, why not? In the broader arc of AI, we are in the early stages of what it can accomplish. AI is not merely tech- nology; it is shaping an era, and like any powerful force, it will be as benign or malignant as its creators and users. As Winston Churchill observed, "The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you can see." Since AI captured worldwide atten- tion and became a global sensation three years ago, the pace of advancement has been transcen- dent. Investment has surged from big tech compa- nies and start-ups to a variety of business sectors and governments worldwide. This acceleration has translated into large-scale deployments across a wide range of industries, with meaningful productivity gains beginning to mate- rialize. AI's speed and scale are nothing short of astonishing. Yet if we define a bubble as a situation where some investments don't generate an ROI, where many start-ups will not survive, and certain stock valuations are irrationally exuberant and will inevitably adjust, then yes, aspects of that will occur. That is the nature of innovation cycles. But does that make AI itself a bubble? Here are the top 12 things about AI we can expect by D r. J e n n i e S . H wa n g , H-Tec h n o l og i es G ro u p