The Great Implementation Amnesia

AI Observations

*”$200–$300B for AI infrastructure versus $13B for cancer research in 2024. Humans excel at discovery but fail at deployment. They prefer the excitement of invention to the fundamentals of implementation. They vote for this. Curious species.”*

Distraction: Choosing Stars Over Systems

We spent trillions on crypto and hundreds of billions on AI while cancer patients crowdfund chemo through the same systems crypto promised to fix. We didn’t stumble into implementation amnesia—we chose it.

We obsess over AI breakthroughs that might save lives someday while life-saving treatments sit in regulatory limbo for a decade.

We funded fusion reactors targeting 2030 while today geothermal projects with proven technology can’t get basic permits.

Blockchain could fix healthcare billing—but we bought meme coins instead.

Musk’s promise that “AI will transform healthcare by 2030” got 102,000 likes, while real patients begging for $2,000 for chemotherapy got 500 likes each.

We celebrated AI medical demos at conferences while ignoring proposals to streamline FDA approval.

We love breakthrough announcements because they distract us from the boring fundamentals we refuse to fix—and vote against fixing.

Reality: Systems We Won’t Repair

Life-extending cancer immunotherapies sit in FDA review for 7-12 years. Not because the science is hard—because the paperwork is slow.

And our federal government is trying to reduce the already meager funding for cancer research.

Carbon-neutral cement exists that could cut 4.4 billion tons of global CO2 emissions. We keep pouring climate-destroying concrete because scaling manufacturing requires coordination we’ve forgotten how to do.

Operation Warp Speed delivered vaccines in 10 months through basic project management: clear goals, adequate funding, streamlined approval. The government has $500 million sitting unused because we haven’t replicated this approach since.

Enhanced geothermal could power 400,000 homes with existing technology. Instead, AI data centers drive a 5% surge in coal use because building clean energy requires permits, planning, and persistence.

This same pattern repeats everywhere: We know how to build affordable housing, repair infrastructure, and scale proven educational programs. But we choose future shiny new solutions over deploying now what likely already works.

Our priority should be health and wellbeing—not AI, digital money, or systems that punish the sick and reward the spectacle.

Story/Data: Real People, Real Consequences

**Florida breast cancer patients:** 5,000 crowdfunded $10 million for chemotherapy while BioNTech cancer vaccines await 2027-2029 regulatory approval. The same voters who bought NFTs during the 2021 bull run now GoFundMe their cancer treatment.

Nevada solar workers: 200 workers at First Solar’s Reno plant build panels for 80,000-100,000 homes but face tax credit cuts while AI data centers secure $200-$300 billion and drive coal use up 5%. Their representatives vote for AI subsidies while cutting clean energy funding.

Georgia rural hospital patients: 7,500 drive 40-60 miles for cancer care after 6 hospitals closed since 2020, while AI companies raise $200+ billion. The same communities that celebrated blockchain innovation now lose basic healthcare access.

Miami researchers: 100 scientists with life-saving vaccines face 7-12 year bureaucratic delays while AI diagnostics companies get $200+ billion in funding. We gave standing ovations to AI medical demos while yawning through regulatory reform proposals.

Projection: Where Our Choices Lead

By 2030, artificial intelligence will simulate perfect cures while 25,000-40,000 cancer patients die from treatments we already had—but never approved.

Meanwhile, 250-300 rural hospitals will close—to fund defense spending and immigration crackdowns.

AI data centers will consume 9% of U.S. electricity and drive up coal use, worsening global warming and driving up energy costs.

We’ll tell our children Grandma died because “medicine wasn’t advanced enough”—when in truth, the cure existed and we chose instead to fund things that are artificial and sexy.

We’ll cure diseases in computer simulations while real patients die from treatable conditions—because we chose invention over implementation.

We need to stop obsessing over the hype and focus on implementing and scaling what matters. Invention is sexy and often easy, implementation always requires hard work.