According to Gartner, AI investment is still in the planning stage through 2024, with real customer deployments not expected until next year. The increase in IT spending caused by AI investment is projected to be only 0.005 percent. Vendors are introducing AI to solve existing problems more effectively and efficiently. Software spending is expected to lead IT spending growth in 2024, followed by IT services and devices.
I spotted two data points covered in ITPro. Most CEOs believe it will take at least two years for generative AI to deliver tangible business benefits. While companies are increasing their AI spending and ranking AI as a top-three tech priority, CEOs express dissatisfaction with progress due to talent and skills shortages, unclear roadmaps, and investment priorities. Only 6% of companies have trained more than 25% of their staff on generative AI, and nearly half need guidance or restrictions. However, organizations investing over $50 million in AI are more likely to anticipate cost savings. A separate report shows that one-third of CEOs have adopted generative AI, expecting improved product quality and the need for workforce upskilling. Job losses are expected, but companies are urged to manage tensions between short-term losses and long-term job creation potential.
A study conducted by researchers at the Amazon Web Services AI lab has found that a significant amount of internet content, particularly in languages spoken in Africa and the Global South, is poorly machine-translated. Over half of the sentences on the web have been translated into multiple languages, leading to increasingly worse quality translations. This raises concerns about the training of large language models and highlights the impact of human bias in machine translation. The study emphasizes caution when consuming web content, as a machine may have generated it.
We are rocketing through the Gartner hype cycle.
AI investment, predominantly in the planning stage through 2024, suggests that businesses are still exploring the best ways to implement AI effectively. This indicates a market opportunity for IT service companies to provide consultancy and planning services for AI integration into business operations. The work itself may not happen in 2024.
The degradation of the web points to the importance of human oversight in AI deployments, especially in global contexts where language and cultural nuances are critical. IT service providers should emphasize the role of human expertise in complementing AI technologies.
This is all good news – this isn’t easy and requires expertise.