Yes, there is a hype cycle that afflicts every new piece of tech. The existence of hype isn't evidence either way. What makes smart people think that this time is different is a straightforward comparison of the capabilities of LLMs and the skills needed to perform various human jobs, including (ominously) high-paying, scarce jobs.
You mean like being a CEO and getting a bunch of money where the only credential is having previously been a CEO regardless of success in previous role? I think LLMs or even chat bots could handle a lot of those positions quite easily.
