I've been in AI research since the mid-2010s. Post-AlexNet, but to me the field still felt fun and exciting. Nobody knew if what we were attempting was even possible.

After ChatGPT, many "could be impossible" problems have been solved. I should be happy! But I feel the fun has been sucked out of AI research. Everything is about economic impact. Academic labs can't afford GPUs. Big companies are pushing my field's output on people who don't want it.

My question is: If you worked in a different field that transitioned from blue-sky to commercial, did you also feel this? Why or why not?