---
id: "prereq-original-ai-triad"
type: "prereq"
source_timestamps: ["§ Understanding the Constraints"]
source_url: "https://hbr.org/2025/10/is-ai-a-boom-or-a-bubble"
source_title: "Is AI a Boom or a Bubble?"
tags: ["ai-history", "technology-scaling"]
related: ["concept-new-ai-triad", "contrarian-physical-limits"]
reason: "Provides the contrast needed to understand why the new constraints (land, labor, energy) represent a fundamental shift in AI scaling."
sources: ["futures"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-futures"
originDay: 2
articleStem: "hbr-foci-74-ai-boom-or-bubble"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/10/is-ai-a-boom-or-a-bubble"
sourceTitle: "Is AI a Boom or a Bubble?"
---
# The Original AI Triad (Compute, Data, Talent)

**Why you need this:** Provides the contrast needed to understand why the new constraints represent a *fundamental shift* in AI scaling.

The essay references a shift from the 'last decade of AI development,' which was defined by a **digital triad: compute, data, and talent**. A baseline grasp of how these three digital elements previously constrained and drove AI progress is necessary to appreciate the paradigm shift to [[concept-new-ai-triad|the New AI Triad of land, labor, and energy]] — and the [[contrarian-physical-limits|contrarian claim that AI's binding limits are now physical, not digital]].