Alright, buckle up, because I'm about to unload on this whole "AI revolution" garbage. Three years after ChatGPT blew everyone's minds, we're still waiting for the freakin' Jetsons to show up. Instead, what do we get? A bunch of overpaid consultants telling us to "rethink our business models" Businesses must adapt to reach AI’s promised Plateau of Productivity. Give me a break.
AI: From Savior to Slightly Smarter Spreadsheet?
The AI Hype Machine Keeps Chugging
Remember the breathless predictions? AI was going to cure cancer, end world hunger, write the next great American novel. Now, it's "augmenting humans" and "flagging potential fraud" AI in Practice. Translation: it's doing glorified Excel spreadsheets while some poor sap still has to explain to the CEO why the numbers don't add up.
And the money? Oh, the money. Billions poured into this black hole, and for what? Slightly better customer service bots that still can't tell the difference between "refund" and "refunding my faith in humanity"? Investment is down from its 2021 peak, sure, but it's still thirteen times higher than a decade ago. What are we even paying for?
The article mentions that even ChatGPT admits its "potent but without the right preparation it becomes a liability rather than an asset." Businesses must adapt to reach AI’s promised Plateau of Productivity You don't say! It's like buying a Ferrari and then realizing you have to build the road yourself.
I'm especially thrilled about AI supposedly helping with coding. The tech sector, ofcourse, is the most enthusiastic adopter. Complete rethink of business models needed to realise AI’s benefits Because who needs human coders when you can have an algorithm write more algorithms? What could possibly go wrong?
Humans: Still the Weakest Link in the AI Chain
The Human Factor: Still Messing Everything Up
Here's the real kicker: even when AI *does* something useful, we humans manage to screw it up. "Death by GPS" is apparently a thing Complete rethink of business models needed to realise AI’s benefits. People blindly following their navigation apps into, presumably, fiery pits of doom. Darwinism at its finest, I guess.
And the military? Don't even get me started. "Automation bias" and "action bias" Complete rethink of business models needed to realise AI’s benefits. Sounds like a recipe for global thermonuclear war, brought to you by the same geniuses who thought self-driving tanks were a good idea. I swear, sometimes I think we're actively trying to destroy ourselves.
Klarna, the payments company, had to rehire humans after their AI customer service bots proved useless Complete rethink of business models needed to realise AI’s benefits. So, the robots can't handle the complexities of real-world scenarios. Color me shocked. It's like expecting a Roomba to perform open-heart surgery.
But hey, at least they're trying to make the chatbots more "engaging and friendly" Complete rethink of business models needed to realise AI’s benefits. Because nothing says "trustworthy financial advice" like a sycophantic AI that agrees with everything you say.
What's next, AI butlers that reinforce our worst impulses? AI therapists that tell us we're all special snowflakes?
Agentic AI: Or, How to Automate Mass Unemployment
Agentic AI: The Next Level of Crazy
Now, they're pushing "agentic AI" Seizing the agentic AI advantage. Apparently, regular AI wasn't enough of a disappointment. This new breed of AI is supposed to automate complex business workflows and "reimagine those workflows from the ground up." Translation: replace even *more* humans with algorithms that probably hallucinate half the time.
They even have case studies! A bank using AI "digital factories" to modernize legacy apps Seizing the agentic AI advantage. A research firm boosting data quality with multiagent solutions. It all sounds so…efficient. So…soulless.
The McKinsey report talks about transforming processes by embedding agents throughout the value chain. They ask, “What would this function look like if agents ran 60 percent of it?” Seizing the agentic AI advantage I'll tell you what it would look like: a whole lot of unemployed people wondering where their jobs went.
But wait, are we really supposed to believe that this "agentic AI mesh" Seizing the agentic AI advantage won't become another tangled web of technical debt and unforeseen consequences? And who's going to hold these autonomous agents accountable when they inevitably screw things up?
Then again, maybe I'm the crazy one here. Maybe I'm just a Luddite clinging to a bygone era. Maybe AI really *is* going to save us all. But something tells me that the "Plateau of Productivity" Businesses must adapt to reach AI’s promised Plateau of Productivity is just another corporate lie, designed to enrich the few at the expense of the many.
This is Just a Slower-Moving Train Wreck