• Google Trends data shows that global search interest in AI is high, but not as high as peak Bitcoin mania in 2017.
• In China, however, search interest for AI surpasses that of Bitcoin since 2013.
• Alliance Bernstein technology specialist Mark Schilsky noted that AI hype was still “far below the absolute hype of Bitcoin” in the US.
Google Search Interest for “AI” Reaches Fever Pitch
Google Trends data reveals that even though AI is the talk of the town, it still pales in comparison to Bitcoin in 2017. In China, it’s a completely different story with search interest consistently surpassing Bitcoin since 2013.
Search Interest for “AI” vs “Bitcoin”
Global search interest for the term “AI” has reached a new all-time high on Google, though it’s yet to hold a candle to peak Bitcoin BTC $27,151 mania in 2017. Alliance Bernstein technology specialist Mark Schilsky noted on May 31 that AI was “still far below the absolute hype of Bitcoin” according to Business Insider. His analysis compared search trends over the past 10 years — “AI,” “metaverse,” and “Bitcoin”—and revealed that peak search volume for “Bitcoin” is higher than peak search volume for AI so far in the United States.
Search Interest for “AI” vs “Bitcoin” in China
In China where cryptocurrency is banned and Google search is restricted favoring Baidu as its search engine, results differ greatly from those found within the United States. Data from Google Trends reveals that Chinese Google users have consistently had more search interest for AI compared to Bitcoin on a monthly basis since May 2013 with only three instances where Bitcoin surpassed searches related to AI throughout the decade—correlating with significant crypto events at those times.
OpenAI Executives Warnings about Future of Artificial Intelligence
Most recently OpenAI executives warned in a May 23 blog post that within the next 10 years, artificial intelligence will exceed expert skill level across ‘most domains’ and be as productive as one of today’s largest corporations.
Conclusion
Overall it appears although global and US searches related to artificial intelligence have increased significantly over time—peaking recently—they are still nowhere near matching levels associated with cryptocurrency during its height of popularity in December 2017 when BTC hit an all-time high close to $20k per coin.