This is not how AI has ever gone. Every approach so far has either been a total dead end, or the underlying concept got pivoted into a simplified, not-AI tech.

This is not how AI has ever gone. Every approach so far has either been a total dead end, or the underlying concept got pivoted into a simplified, not-AI tech. You're talking about the progress of technology. I'm talking about how humans use technology in it's early states. They're not mutually exclusive.