There have been discussions on top of discussions when it comes to AI.
People have opinions on how it should be deployed, whether or not it’s training constitutes theft, whether or not it’s accurate…the list goes on and on.
Another issue, though, is that – at least at the moment – it’s just not good business.
Goldman Sachs analysts have concluded, in fact, that AI isn’t making much money at all at the moment.
For example, companies from H&R Block to Walmart have seen their shares vastly underperform the broader stock market for a year and a half.
Only 5% of businesses are using AI, which is much shallower market penetration than expected, and projections don’t have it rising quickly, either.
Experts blame flagging confidence in the product after its confidently wrong (and weird) answers, plus unaddressed security and privacy issues.
No one, aside from companies selling hardware, is making money, and Goldman Sachs’ Jim Covello isn’t mincing words.
“AI technology is exceptionally expensive, and to justify those costs, the technology must be able to solve complex problems, which it isn’t designed to do.”
AI is expensive, both in deployment and run costs, and that’s not even considering the toll it takes on the environment.
So far, the companies who have jumped on board are not showing even meager returns on that investment.
Hackers, though, are going hog wild.
They’re using AI to steal a bunch of money, so at least someone is getting some use out of it.
Just one more reason to press pause on the idea that AI is the inevitable future.
If you enjoyed that story, check out what happened when a guy gave ChatGPT $100 to make as money as possible, and it turned out exactly how you would expect.