I think the fatigue is that the technology has been hyped since long before today when it’s actually started to become somewhat useful.
And even today when it’s useful, it’s really most useful for very specific domains like coding.
It’s not been impressive at all with other applications. Just chat with your local AI chat bot when you call customer service.
For example, I watch a YouTube channel where this guy calls up car dealerships to negotiate car deals and some of them have purchased AI receptionist solutions. They’re essentially worse than a simple “press 1 for sales” menu and have essentially zero business value.
Another example, I switched to a cheap phone plan MVNO that uses AI chat as its first line of defense. All it did was act as a natural language search engine for a small selection of FAQ pages, and to actually do anything you needed to find the right button to get a human.
These two examples of technology were not worth the hype. We can blame those businesses all day long but at the end of the day I can’t imagine those businesses are going to be impressed with the results of the tech long term. Those car dealerships won’t sell more cars because of it, my phone plan won’t avoid customer service interactions because of it.
In theory, these AI systems should easily be able to be plugged in to do some basic operations that actually save these businesses from hiring people.
The cellular provider should be able to have the AI chatbot make real adjustments to your account, even if they’re minor.
The car dealership bot should be able to set the customer up in the CMS by collecting basic contact info, and maybe should be able to send a basic quote on a vehicle stock number before negotiations begin.
But in practice, these AI systems aren’t providing significant value to these businesses. Companies like Taco Bell can’t even replace humans taking food orders despite the language capabilities of AI.
My comment is relevant because I’m pointing out, like the article does, that AI isn’t turning out to be anywhere near as useful and low-friction as it has been promised. Hence, the fatigue.
You should venture outside coding. Just from my last gathering with friends I heard people in Healthcare, Logistics and Construction all mentioning interesting ways in which it improves their productivity.
I’m sorry I didn’t talk about what you wanted me to. Maybe I can send you my comment drafts in the future so you can decide if my comments are appropriate. I appreciate your help!
And even today when it’s useful, it’s really most useful for very specific domains like coding.
It’s not been impressive at all with other applications. Just chat with your local AI chat bot when you call customer service.
For example, I watch a YouTube channel where this guy calls up car dealerships to negotiate car deals and some of them have purchased AI receptionist solutions. They’re essentially worse than a simple “press 1 for sales” menu and have essentially zero business value.
Another example, I switched to a cheap phone plan MVNO that uses AI chat as its first line of defense. All it did was act as a natural language search engine for a small selection of FAQ pages, and to actually do anything you needed to find the right button to get a human.
These two examples of technology were not worth the hype. We can blame those businesses all day long but at the end of the day I can’t imagine those businesses are going to be impressed with the results of the tech long term. Those car dealerships won’t sell more cars because of it, my phone plan won’t avoid customer service interactions because of it.
In theory, these AI systems should easily be able to be plugged in to do some basic operations that actually save these businesses from hiring people.
The cellular provider should be able to have the AI chatbot make real adjustments to your account, even if they’re minor.
The car dealership bot should be able to set the customer up in the CMS by collecting basic contact info, and maybe should be able to send a basic quote on a vehicle stock number before negotiations begin.
But in practice, these AI systems aren’t providing significant value to these businesses. Companies like Taco Bell can’t even replace humans taking food orders despite the language capabilities of AI.