LLMs certainly hold potential, but as we’ve seen time and time again in tech over the last fifteen years, the hype and greed of unethical pitchmen has gotten way out ahead of the actual locomotive. A lot of people in “tech” are interested in money, not tech. And they’re increasingly making decisions based on how to drum up investment bucks, get press attention and bump stock, not on actually improving anything.
The result has been a ridiculous parade of rushed “AI” implementations that are focused more on cutting corners, undermining labor, or drumming up sexy headlines than improving lives. The resulting hype cycle isn’t just building unrealistic expectations and tarnishing brands, it’s often distracting many tech companies from foundational reality and more practical, meaningful ideas.
You get out ahead of the locomotive knowing that most of the directions you go aren’t going to pan out. The point is that the guy who happens to pick correctly will win big by getting out there first. Nothing wrong with making the attempt and getting it wrong, as long as you factored that risk in (as McDonalds’ seems to have done given that this hasn’t harmed them).
The thing most companies are missing is to design the AI experience. What happens when it fails? Are we making options available for those who want a standard experience? Do we even have an elegant feedback loop to mark when it fails? Are we accounting for different pitches and accents? How about speech impediments?
I’m a designer focusing on AI, but a lot of companies haven’t even realized they need a designer for this. It’s like we’re the conscience of tech, and listened to about as often.