There’s actually a strong reason why Bitcoin arrived before (generative) AI. Both are downstream of computing power and Moore’s law. Bitcoin also required mass adoption of cryptography (which up until 1999 was heavily export controlled), and a macro environment that cried out for an alternative monetary system (2008 GFC). But the building blocks had been lying dormant since the 1990s. AI could only happen post 2010 when the chips suddenly got powerful enough for neural nets to start working.

Additionally, one could argue that by 2008 the internet had reached critical mass and escape velocity (the iPhone launched in 2007). This meant that when Bitcoin launched, it had a ready-built distribution channel to quickly spread its mind virus, and individuals could freely participate in the network using increasingly affordable personal computing devices. The TL;DR is that Bitcoin’s activation threshold (cryptography, personal compute, distribution channel) was lower than AI, hence it happened first.