The musical chairs game of AI

The current state of AI is very similar to a big musical chairs game, which is being played with the entire world at stake. The music started playing a few years ago. At first everyone thought the music was interesting, but playing the game was a hobby for weekends and late nights. Curious and somewhat satisfaying but still not a career, a way of living. A few months ago things changed. The music is now great. The game is paying big prizes. And everyone wants to play. The catch is, there's not enough chairs even to start the first round of the game. There's no place in the room actually.