In 2026, daily fluctuations in stock prices driven by news surrounding AI services, such as Claude and OpenAI, became starkly evident. A report from Citriny Research, titled '2028 Global Intelligence Crisis', deeply unsettled Wall Street, suggesting that AI's capability to generate abundant intelligence could structurally undermine the value of human labor and potentially lead to the collapse of the consumer-centric economy. The market reaction saw significant declines in major companies, including DoorDash, Mastercard, and IBM, reflecting the heightened anxiety about AI's implications for economic stability.

At the heart of this report is the concept of 'Ghost GDP', which describes a scenario where productivity spikes due to AI advancements, but the resultant gains do not translate into income for the workforce. The report warns of potential disruptions across several economic sectors, highlighting the risk of mass unemployment among white-collar workers and an alarming threat to the $13 trillion mortgage market. The year 2026 is poised as a critical turning point, beyond which a restructuring or collapse of existing economic systems may take place, as AI agents disrupt traditional revenue models and contribute to rising default rates in the private equity sector.

However, dismissing these scenarios outright is cautioned against, as is passively accepting them, acknowledging the report’s oversight of human agency and institutional responses. It leans towards a technological determinism perspective, often disregarding past lessons where predictions about the obsolescence of intermediaries like Uber and Airbnb did not materialize. Instead of disappearing, the role of intermediaries has evolved to encompass trust, verification, and responsibility, suggesting that as AI reduces matching costs, the demand for such values may increase. Thus, these scenarios assume a passive stance from businesses, consumers, and governments, which may not hold true.