Technology is increasingly presented as a promise of the future. Artificial intelligence promises to transform the economy, while companies like Tesla showcase cars that seem to defy the limits of what is possible. These demonstrations capture our attention, generate expectations and attract investment. However, proving that something is technically possible does not mean it is useful, profitable or necessary. There is a gap between innovation and its practical application that spectacle tends to conceal.

The more spectacular a demonstration is, the more important it becomes to ask what remains when the spectacle ends. What problem does it solve? How much does it cost? Who actually benefits? Does what is presented as revolutionary genuinely improve our lives? We should not confuse the ability to build something extraordinary with the ability to create value. A technology does not prove its importance through what it promises, but through what it delivers once the attention it has generated fades away.