Intro

Late August, 1991. I was driving to pick up guitar strings when a song came on the radio. It was like nothing I’d heard before. Angsty, catchy, with moments of beautiful dissonance. The DJs didn’t say who the band was.

At the guitar store, I asked if anyone had heard it. They looked at me like I was crazy. One guy said, “Maybe it’s Poison.” I looked at him like he was crazy. I left on a mission and drove straight to a record store. No luck there either.

Those 4 minutes and 38 seconds exposed the masses to what would later be named grunge. The song was Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. Its nonsensical lyrics and jagged energy expressed exactly what I was feeling as a recent high school graduate. And I wasn’t alone. It flipped the music world, and honestly plenty of other worlds, upside down.

Pondering

I recently watched a video by Aaron Rash, a musician and phenomenal filmmaker who meticulously researches and documents everything Nirvana. He went to Pachyderm Studios where In Utero was recorded, and recreated the sounds from that album exactly. It gave me chills.

It got me wondering: are we living through a moment in technology like grunge was in music? It feels similar. Like we’re at the end of an era and a reset is happening.

Misunderstanding

When grunge arrived, people didn’t know what to make of it. Some wholeheartedly embraced it. Others dismissed it as a fad. I was just so happy it made wearing flannel socially acceptable.

AI feels like it’s in the same spot right now. Some people are certain it will redefine everything. Others write it off as gimmicky or overhyped. But like grunge, it carries that strange energy. It’s impossible to ignore.

Hype

After Nirvana, labels scrambled. Authentic voices emerged, but so did a rush of imitators trying to cash in. Grunge was suddenly everywhere, watered down by the hype.

We’re watching the same thing with AI. Every product suddenly has “AI” in it. Some are breakthroughs. Many are just bandwagon. The noise makes it hard to spot the real movement underneath.

Remnants

Grunge as a genre didn’t last long. But its influence is still everywhere — in music, style, and culture.

AI is likely on the same trajectory. This messy, loud moment will give way to something more diffuse, but the ripple will remain. Years from now, we’ll look back on this as the clear line between before and after. Just like I remember the first time I heard Nirvana, we’ll all remember when AI showed up and said, “Here we are now, entertain us.”