How to Spot an AI Imposter – Part 1

From AI Confusion to Digital Dominance.

The generative AI explosion has created a crazy world out there; it’s the wild, wild west. Research company, Exploding Topics, estimates that there are already 70,000 who claim to be AI companies; with more than 150 million companies already using AI. The burgeoning AI company, Hugging Face, now claims to have more than a million models, apps, and data sets already under their care. With more companies formed every day, and information overload on hyperdrive, there is way too much to navigate in the world of AI.

Hidden in this explosion of hundreds of thousands or millions of AI choices that we have to make, we are already discovering the emergence of leaders and laggards.

According to the McKinsey Quote of the Day…

“Gen AI is a great addition to any activity that requires creativity and needs human interaction or leadership. And if managed correctly, gen AI can help employees be happier, more content, and focus on what they love doing.”

As noted in the quote, digital leaders are already recognizing the potential of AI and generative AI to enhance things normally created by humans. Everything from art to software code has the potential to make our lives better and more productive.

The potential is there, but all of the hype around AI has caused massive confusion. An inordinate amount of money pumped into new companies and marketing coffers. Every day when I get up, I check out the AI and the generative AI news; and every day it’s a little bit more confusing.

Think about some of the AI chaos and uncertainty being thrust upon us every day. The leadership at Open AI, the makers of ChatGPT, have mostly departed due to the turmoil of the last couple of years. The founders of Inflexion AI left and joined the Microsoft AI division. There are still unanswered regulatory and compliance regulations. There is an uproar from artists and content creators regarding the right to use their work to train AI models. On top of all of this, the infrastructure to run global AI is massive. The energy that it will take to run AI in the future is probably twice the amount of energy that we’re currently creating in the US.

Billions have been invested, 25 billion in the first quarter of 2024 alone; and there will be a busting of the bubble. We’ve seen it happen once. It will happen again, and this time it’s going to be a nuclear explosion. There will be big losses.

In the face of all the uncertainty and confusion, one thing is clear: The potential hidden in AI is greater than the risk. AI is a game changer. It reminds me of the quote from the famous architect, engineer, and philosopher, Buckminster Fuller:

With AI we are building a new model that makes the old model obsolete; and at this point in the game, a “do nothing” strategy is no longer an option. Everyone is aware that they have to do something with generative AI. Why do we need to act now? Because we’re already seeing value being created by AI and generative AI in three areas: acceleration, innovation, and digital dominance.

First, generative AI has become an accelerant of almost everything, especially business intelligence. With it we create faster: faster code, faster queries, faster explanations, faster visualizations, quicker data management, quicker insight, and so much more. We are seeing the acceleration of insight and the acceleration of everything at a much faster pace.

Second, generative AI is producing more innovation, especially innovation in the creation of content, but more importantly new companies, new business models, new AI products, and new insight never before accessible. When a business user can dialogue with an AI agent, it removes the data analyst or business analyst bottleneck and speeds time to insight. Faster insight means faster innovation cycles.

Third, generative AI has ushered in a push for digital dominance. For the last 10 years the boardroom discussion has been all about digital transformation. However, since most organizational systems are now digital, transformation is no longer enough. Hidden in the AI explosion are some of the secrets to moving beyond digital transformation to digital dominance. Those who speed time to insight and condense innovations cycles are well positioned to use their digital assets to dominate their markets.

For a complete analysis of what really matters for AI-enabled BI, read the Ferraro Consulting POV paper, Hype Alert: Not All AI Enabled BI Makes the Grade.