I want to cover some non-AI hype… about AI.
Generative AI currently makes up a small fraction of cloud computing costs for enterprises and cloud providers, despite the hype, per coverage in the Register. While generative AI has sparked interest from companies in various industries, IT spending on the technology is still primarily focused on predictive analytics, with generative AI not yet significantly impacting cloud bills or revenues for cloud platforms. However, this is expected to change over the next few years as enterprises spend more on cloud computing to support their generative AI products and services.
A LinkedIn survey of nearly 30,000 professionals found that 90% are excited about AI in the workplace, but 49% feel they should know more about it. The survey also found that 45% believe AI will make their jobs easier and give them more free time, but 39% feel overwhelmed by the change AI could bring to their job. Employers should focus on education to help workers feel more comfortable with AI workflows.
A new US, UK, Australian, and Indian consumers found that around half of those people have tried large language models (LLMs) or other generative AI applications, and about a third of those continue to do so daily. The report also traced a generational divide in who’s using the technology, with Gen Z and millennials making up 65% of users and 70% of Gen Z respondents saying they’ve used it. Of the 51% of people who told Salesforce they’ve never used generative AI, 88% said they were unclear on how AI will impact their daily lives, and 81% doubted that companies will ever achieve goals around improving customer service with AI.
According to a study by Ohio State University, using AI generators to write personal correspondence like letters and text messages results in negative reactions from friends and colleagues who receive them. People who received an AI-assisted response recorded having much lower opinions about the sender and were far less likely to agree that the sender “meets my needs as a close friend” or “likes me as a close friend.” The study’s authors wrote that “using AI assistance led participants to perceive the friend expended less effort, reducing participants’ relationship satisfaction and increasing uncertainty.”
Why do we care?
I wanted to give some air time to anti-hype stories. AI can be overwhelming, have critical generational gaps, and has a lot of uses that are entirely inappropriate. And on top of all this, the money isn’t nearly as significant as technologies like cloud broadly. I wanted to give some space for those considering AI as just hype.