I am so over these customer service AI chats. They're useless, annoying, and time-consuming. What a great state of affairs when almost all companies have divested themselves of the obligation to support their products and services effectively. And still we buy. And still we consume at a rate that boggles the mind. As for your piece--thank you enormously for pointing out that we could all do with taking a step back from AI hysteria. Of course, then what would we all have to write about?
Thanks for your comments. There are still many companies with great customer service but the reason many get away with poor service is in your comment: “and still we buy”. I previously documented appalling AI customer support from RBC Visa and Canva. Yet I still buy from them
Many companies do not care about customer service. But I suppose they can save money replacing humans reading scripts and citing "the computer says no" with rubbish direct from the source. Shocking examples, thanks for sharing your research, David.
Thanks for the comments Lisa. It us unclear in the research how much cost was being saved, if any. But we live in a time of poorer customer service for sure. Not enough people vote with their feet and dollars
I agree and I often feel the whiplash effect from the AI claims from the extreme pro and anti-AI claims.
I'm not sure why people think customer service is a straightforward situation that would easily lend itself to AI agents in the first place, as I've worked in customer service type roles and they are anything but straightforward.
Unfortunately, anytime there is an advantage to be taken, people will do it, as you note with the guardrails.
Like always, I always come away from reading your articles with a better sense of the limits and possibilities of whatever we're terming AI these days. Thanks, David.
I’m still bullish on AI’s potential, but deeply wary of the narrative inflation happening around it.
If even institutions like MIT are getting swept up in questionable claims, what hope do regular businesses or the public have in separating signal from noise? I’m all for AI innovation, but at this rate, it feels like we’re beta-testing our future David.
Thanks for the comments as always. At this point AI is really just a personal productivity tool with better use cases in a few small job types. I think we now see it was an S curve in its advancement. The latest studies I was reading this morning show really low uptake on anything meaningful for business organizations
Beta testing something like this that can go wrong isn’t a comforting thought
I look forward to your article on Thursday; will get to your current one thus afternoon
I look forward to that article in conversation with this. I'm having a hard time sorting through all the noise about AI to hear a decent signal (and you know I tend to be a skeptic here). It seems the biggest questions for me revolve around who is profiting from it, who is writing the code, and how much are we anthropomorphizing it.
Nvidia & Broadcom. A few others that supply the expensive equipment to make chips & the physical chip manufacturers. Everyone else is losing the largest amounts in human history counting on….well a while bunch of things that may or may not happen in the future
I like my data crunched not skimmed. Hard factual lights. Virality is actually mostly outside of the 1% in terms of winners - MrBeast and Charlie D’Amelio et al - except for the platform toll. Rapid adoption of something free often leads to losses and bankruptcy. This year OpenAI will lose $15 billion. Absolutely unheard of
No one except chip maker are making profit at this point. Right now there is no path to a sustainable business model but that didn’t stop Amazon investors for decades. I believe we will continue to see maybe 1 to 3 years more like this. There have been AI winters in the past where the investment dollars dry up. I expect a mini-one.
The “code” has been based on decades of conceptual research and programming. Much of the newer code is based on this. What makes it work are the chips. There are a huge range of primary AI developers spread across research institutes, universities, startups and a motley collection of large AI companies. For many I have difficulty characterizing some if them as just employees on enormous salaries and stock options.
There are lots if studies about the profound anthropomorphizing we have and are doing. Humans are incredibly willing to do this, especially when you add “apparent natural language and voices”. We buy it hook, line and sinker. Hans here is a great podcast series by Melanie Mitchell https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/complexity/id1482984603
I am so over these customer service AI chats. They're useless, annoying, and time-consuming. What a great state of affairs when almost all companies have divested themselves of the obligation to support their products and services effectively. And still we buy. And still we consume at a rate that boggles the mind. As for your piece--thank you enormously for pointing out that we could all do with taking a step back from AI hysteria. Of course, then what would we all have to write about?
Thanks for your comments. There are still many companies with great customer service but the reason many get away with poor service is in your comment: “and still we buy”. I previously documented appalling AI customer support from RBC Visa and Canva. Yet I still buy from them
Many companies do not care about customer service. But I suppose they can save money replacing humans reading scripts and citing "the computer says no" with rubbish direct from the source. Shocking examples, thanks for sharing your research, David.
Thanks for the comments Lisa. It us unclear in the research how much cost was being saved, if any. But we live in a time of poorer customer service for sure. Not enough people vote with their feet and dollars
I agree and I often feel the whiplash effect from the AI claims from the extreme pro and anti-AI claims.
I'm not sure why people think customer service is a straightforward situation that would easily lend itself to AI agents in the first place, as I've worked in customer service type roles and they are anything but straightforward.
Unfortunately, anytime there is an advantage to be taken, people will do it, as you note with the guardrails.
Like always, I always come away from reading your articles with a better sense of the limits and possibilities of whatever we're terming AI these days. Thanks, David.
Thanks for reading and commenting Hans.
I’m still bullish on AI’s potential, but deeply wary of the narrative inflation happening around it.
If even institutions like MIT are getting swept up in questionable claims, what hope do regular businesses or the public have in separating signal from noise? I’m all for AI innovation, but at this rate, it feels like we’re beta-testing our future David.
You will love my article on Thursday.
I am prepared to hear your feedback hahahaha
Have a good Tuesday!
Thanks for the comments as always. At this point AI is really just a personal productivity tool with better use cases in a few small job types. I think we now see it was an S curve in its advancement. The latest studies I was reading this morning show really low uptake on anything meaningful for business organizations
Beta testing something like this that can go wrong isn’t a comforting thought
I look forward to your article on Thursday; will get to your current one thus afternoon
No rush - It’s not going anywhere.
Thank you David…
It went everywhere through my mind
I look forward to that article in conversation with this. I'm having a hard time sorting through all the noise about AI to hear a decent signal (and you know I tend to be a skeptic here). It seems the biggest questions for me revolve around who is profiting from it, who is writing the code, and how much are we anthropomorphizing it.
It's not too tough to determine who is making the filthy lucre in this case.
Nvidia & Broadcom. A few others that supply the expensive equipment to make chips & the physical chip manufacturers. Everyone else is losing the largest amounts in human history counting on….well a while bunch of things that may or may not happen in the future
i hear you, but as someone else said…the 1% has a finger in every viral pie.
I like my data crunched not skimmed. Hard factual lights. Virality is actually mostly outside of the 1% in terms of winners - MrBeast and Charlie D’Amelio et al - except for the platform toll. Rapid adoption of something free often leads to losses and bankruptcy. This year OpenAI will lose $15 billion. Absolutely unheard of
No one except chip maker are making profit at this point. Right now there is no path to a sustainable business model but that didn’t stop Amazon investors for decades. I believe we will continue to see maybe 1 to 3 years more like this. There have been AI winters in the past where the investment dollars dry up. I expect a mini-one.
The “code” has been based on decades of conceptual research and programming. Much of the newer code is based on this. What makes it work are the chips. There are a huge range of primary AI developers spread across research institutes, universities, startups and a motley collection of large AI companies. For many I have difficulty characterizing some if them as just employees on enormous salaries and stock options.
There are lots if studies about the profound anthropomorphizing we have and are doing. Humans are incredibly willing to do this, especially when you add “apparent natural language and voices”. We buy it hook, line and sinker. Hans here is a great podcast series by Melanie Mitchell https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/complexity/id1482984603
Thank you! I'll take a look
The 1% is profiting.
The engineers are writing the code, BUT they are just employees who need a job in 2025.
Although... I have seen some interesting things happen since January.
Oh, yall will love my article on Thursday. I promise.
Expectations are high :)
You won’t be disappointed lol