Welcome Aboard the AI Hype Train

One of the coolest shows I watched growing up was Soul Train and its host the fantastic Don Cornelius. Best theme song ever. Souuuuuulllllll traaaaaaaainnnn…. With the little cartoon train. So funky. But there is another kind of train filled with lost souls that I’ve seen running throughout my entire career.

This one is called the HYPE train and the stops are always the same:

  1. Brand Newland
  2. Hopefulville
  3. Cautiously Optimisticburg
  4. Oh No — Goin Down Hardsville
  5. Derailment

Let’s give a few examples of the hype train we’ve seen over just the past years

  1. NFTs — no, no that jpg of a gorilla is TOTALLY gonna be worth millions someday
  2. VR — Yes, we know you want to sit on your butt and play, but what if you got up and smacked headfirst into the coffee table? Talk about a rush!
  3. Metaverse — Exactly like Ready, Player One EXCEPT — no one is there and it sucks virtual eggs
  4. Bitcoin and crypto currency — As one female comedian famously said at Tom Brady’s Celebrity Roast, “Even Gronk know that not real money”

Now…..AI is firmly on the HYPE train and the companies and individuals investing so heavily in its success will say just about anything to get more investment, convince more cities of the need for data centers (which use both a ton of water and a ton of electricity) and just attract more attention. PT Barnum would be very proud because hype works and it always has.

A study published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that among 6,000 CEOs, chief financial officers, and other executives from firms who responded to various business outlook surveys in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Australia, the vast majority see LITTLE IMPACT from AI on their operations. While about two-thirds of executives reported using AI, that usage amounted to only about 1.5 hours per week, and 25% of respondents reported not using AI in the workplace at all. Nearly 90% of firms said AI has had no impact on employment or productivity over the last three years, the research noted.

However, firms’ expectations of AI’s workplace and economic impact remained substantial: Executives also forecast AI will increase productivity by 1.4% and increase output by 0.8% over the next three years. While firms expected a 0.7% cut to employment over this time period, individual employees surveyed saw a 0.5% increase in employment.

Hardly the future you were promised, yes?

I think that puts us past BrandNewland, we blew by Hopefullville and now we’re pulling into Cautiously Optimisticburg where a lot of people are starting to de-board the AI hype train.

I think hype works out of a healthy combination of surprise and fear. Surprise that wow — look what THIS can do! And Fear that goes — “hey you don’t want to miss out on this!” And it’s worked for sooooooo many years now. Yes, as a member of the PT Barnum PR Circus for 30 years, I’ve been part of the problem getting thousands of media outlets HYPED up about whatever I was hyping. So I get it — and probably better than most people. I see it.

Gen AI tools are useful, no doubt about it, esp when crunching numbers and doing research (as long as it’s VERIFIED before you just accept it). I have a simple rule when it comes to AI use in my business — I will use AI for any LEFT-BRAINED activities (invoices, spreadsheets, media list creation, etc) and I will use my own brain for any RIGHT-BRAINED activities (writing, creating, thinking about strategy, developing content, etc.). Try that — it’s good to use your own brain and as it turns out, it’s necessary.

AI won’t be the last tech thing on the HYPE TRAIN, but it’s a great idea to think about the stops and see the pattern. And enjoy some old episodes of Soul Train, which is a much better and funkier train.