Fad? Hardly but yes, .ai may be deemed a fad by those who own zero great .AI domains
A trend is far different from a fad. Trends become part of the zeitgeist
Ai will not even reach critical mass until circa 2035
And this trend is soaring upwards:
"According to Google Trends, the “ai domain” search term has grown by 203% in the past year, with over 18,000 searches/month. One of the main factors driving this trend is ChatGPT’s release on November 30, 2022. Its success has led organizations worldwide to build their own AI-based services, urging them to secure their own.ai domain"
In 2040, expect the next big extension to be .AGI ( Artificial General Intelligence) to accentuate its capabilities over mere .AI