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Is AI Dead?
The AI bubble is bursting, but this time things are different.
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985 Words | 4 Min 10 Sec Read
Welcome to another issue of Passionate Income.
Today we’ll be discussing what’s going on with artificial intelligence in 2024.
In particular, how this new technology is living up to the hype now that it's been a full year since generative AI went viral.
Let’s dive in.
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One short year ago it was near impossible to log onto Twitter/X without seeing half a dozen threads on "why 99% of people are using ChatGPT wrong."
Fast forward to today and you can scroll and scroll without seeing a single tweet about it.
Admittedly, it's impossible to maintain virality for years on end. Even the most salacious story becomes old news over time.
Digging deeper, however, it seems the hype around AI not only fell back to baseline, but turned negative. From flatlining subscription numbers to the drama of the week at OpenAI, the positivity and excitement from 2023 is gone.
So, what happened?
To understand, you have to look at how AI was marketed in the early ChatGPT days.
If you remember back to late 2022 and early 2023, there was very little AI marketing in the traditional sense of the word.
You didn't see OpenAI running Facebook Ads or doing TV commercials. Midjourney wasn't placing billboards or sponsoring radio shows.
Instead, almost 100% of AI "marketing" was driven by influencers, content marketers and news outlets that wanted to ride a hot trend.
The problem with this is both content creators and journalists are driven by the desire to capture eyeballs. Which as you likely know, can persuade editors and writers to exaggerate the truth in the name of hype (e.g. clickbait).
And because of that, AI companies lost control of the narrative.
On the positive side, one could argue the hundreds of millions of dollars in free exposure these companies got was worth it. And with how insanely viral ChatGPT went, it’s entirely possible most AI companies' marketing departments simply weren’t prepared for the gargantuan amount of traffic and press exposure they would receive.
On the negative side, losing control of your marketing – or relegating it to a group of people whose livelihood is determined by how many impressions they can get - did major damage to the industry as a whole.
Mainly because losing control of the message led to the general public having unrealistic expectations regarding what AI is and is not capable of.
Fast forward to today and most people's sentiment toward generative AI can be summed up in three words:
"Is that all?"
While there's no denying marketers get value out of these tools, for the average person, generative AI is irrelevant.
Time and time again, I see social media comments from everyday citizens who tested AI, were left unimpressed and quickly moved onto the next thing.
So where does that leave us today?
First, while new subscriber growth seems to have plateaued in the short-term, there's no denying AI is here to stay.
While the general public's vision of an all knowing, all powerful super computer is still a ways off, corporations (which from a SaaS perspective are much better clients than consumers) are working to integrate AI at an aggressive pace.
Admittedly, most CEOs don't seem to understand AI either. Which has led some (including small business founders) to get ripped off by "AI Automation experts" who promise the world but are unable to deliver.
Second, understand most consumers' knowledge of AI is limited to whatever tools they hear about on social media (e.g. ChatGPT, Midjourney, etc.).
And in all honesty, while these programs are powerful, they're not ready for the mainstream. Instead, most heavy users today fall into the Innovator and Early Adopter categories (relative to the Technology Adoption Cycle).
With that said, generative AI is just one type of artificial intelligence.
From credit card fraud detection to Auto Correct on your phone, AI is all around us (and has been for a while).
But in terms of what kind of app will take generative AI mainstream, it will likely happen once Apple releases their internal line of AI apps on the iPhone.
A process that as of now, the hardware giant is woefully behind on (as is evidenced by their deal with OpenAI to integrate programs like ChatGPT into Apple devices until they're ready to roll out their own apps).
Third, the general public is disconnected from many of today's most compelling AI developments. Mainly because some of the most exciting and transformative AI programs are being built for enterprise/corporate use.
From water optimization to health, many people will be impacted by AI without them having to buy or download an app. Instead, the products and services they use will have AI integrated into them behind the scenes.
In conclusion, while the media hype has died down - and it's possible we're in an AI bubble - there are stark differences between artificial intelligence and fad technologies like NFTs or the Metaverse.
Mainly because - unlike crypto and NFTs - AI is capable of solving massive real world problems.
So, while it's natural for the pendulum to swing back toward indifference after an intense period of obsession, rest assured AI is here to stay.
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💡 Takeaway: While the social media hype and news coverage have died down, and the general public doesn't seem to interested, corporations are diving deep into AI. And it's only a matter of time before Apple releases a suite of tools that take artificial intelligence mainstream.
🎁 Resources:
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