The AI Hype Observatory
Tracking the slogans, buzzwords and predictions the AI field tells itself — and how fast they rise, peak, and die.
August 2026
68
AI Hype Index
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Rising
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Cooling
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New this month
What changed · August 2026: Hype Index 68→66 — the naming treadmill sped up (loop engineering was superseded by graph engineering six weeks after it was coined) while enterprise agentic hype kept sliding toward the trough. New: Graph engineering, AI capex bubble, Lethal trifecta. Risers: Continual learning, Loop engineering, Decade of the agent, Agent washing. Coolers: Year of the agent, AGI 2027, Vibe coding, Prompt engineering, Context engineering, Agentic AI. Revived: Scaling wall — re-recruited by the capex argument.
Panel 01
The Hype Cycle
Every tracked term plotted on the classic curve — from innovation trigger, over the peak of inflated expectations, down into the trough of disillusionment, up the slope of enlightenment, onto the plateau of productivity. Hover any dot.
Panel 02
The Prediction Ledger
The rolling "year of X" calls — and a verdict once reality is in. Accountability is the point.
Panel 03
The Lexicon
Filter by category. Each term carries its stage, momentum, a representative quote, and a link to its primary source.
Panel 04
The Graveyard
Buzzwords that have cooled, been superseded, or quietly retired. Today's slogan is tomorrow's epitaph.