Enthusiasm-Driven Compromise
Every technology adoption follows the same arc: excitement erodes the governance needed to use it well. The enthusiasm IS the compromise. We predicted AI fatigue before the industry observed it.
We named this pattern before the industry discovered it.
Enthusiasm-Driven Compromise (EDC) describes a universal arc: a new capability generates excitement, the excitement erodes governance, the governance erosion creates the crisis the capability was supposed to prevent.
It happened with agile (velocity metrics replacing quality). It happened with cloud (migration speed replacing security). It is happening now with AI (generation speed replacing comprehension).
In March 2026, the industry started naming “AI fatigue” as a new phenomenon. We had already documented it as a predicted consequence of EDC.
A framework that predicts a phenomenon before the industry observes it has earned its credibility. EDC is not a theory. It is a diagnostic.