Look, I’m gonna say it: AI is overhyped.
There. I said it. And I’m not alone. About three months ago, I was at a conference in Austin, and I heard Marcus—let’s call him Marcus, because I don’t wanna get him in trouble—say the same thing. He’s a bigwig at a major tech company, and even he’s tired of the non-stop AI propaganda.
I’ve been in tech journalism for 20+ years. I’ve seen trends come and go. And this AI craze? It’s getting out of hand. It’s like everyone forgot that AI isn’t some magical solution to every problem. It’s just another tool. A fancy one, sure, but still just a tool.
I mean, honestly, have you seen the amount of AI startups popping up lately? It’s like everyone and their mom is trying to get a piece of the pie. And most of them? They’re just rehashing the same old ideas with a shiny new ‘AI’ label slapped on top.
But here’s the thing about AI…
It’s not all bad. I’m not saying AI is useless. Far from it. AI can do some amazing stuff. Like, seriously, the things it can do with image recognition? Mind-blowing. I remember when my friend Sarah showed me this app that could identify plants just by taking a picture. I was like, ‘Whoa. That’s kinda cool.’
But here’s where it gets annoying. Everyone thinks AI is the answer to everything. You’ve got people saying AI is gonna replace doctors, lawyers, teachers. And I’m like, ‘Okay, slow down there, cowboy.’
I get it. AI is exciting. It’s new. It’s shiny. But it’s not the be-all and end-all. And frankly, the amount of commitment—committment, damn autocorrect—companies are putting into AI is kinda scary. It’s like they’re all in a race to see who can jump on the bandwagon first, and nobody’s stopping to think about the consequences.
And don’t even get me started on the cybersecurity implications.
I was talking to Dave, a colleague named Dave—yes, that’s his real name—about this the other day. We were over coffee at the place on 5th, and he was telling me about this new AI-powered security system his company’s working on. Sounds great, right? Until he told me about the aquisition—aquisition, jeez—process they went through to get the data they needed to train it.
‘They’re using public data, right?’ I asked.
‘Yeah, mostly,’ he said.
‘And they’re making sure it’s all anonymized and stuff?’
‘I mean, they say they are,’ he said, shrugging.
Which… yeah. Fair enough. But it’s still kinda sketchy if you ask me. I mean, how do we know they’re not using our data without our permission? How do we know they’re not selling it to the highest bidder? It’s all a bit hush-hush, if you ask me.
And it’s not just the data. It’s the algorithms too. Who’s to say they’re not biased? Who’s to say they’re not making decisions based on faulty logic? It’s all a bit of a black box, isn’t it?
But enough about the doom and gloom.
Let’s talk about something else for a sec. You ever notice how alot—alot, I can’t even—how alot of tech journalists are just regurgitating press releases these days? It’s like they’ve forgotten how to think for themselves. They just take what the companies say and repeat it like a parrot.
I’m not saying I’m perfect. I’ve done it too. Hell, I probably still do it sometimes. But it’s something to be aware of, you know? We gotta be critical. We gotta ask the hard questions. We can’t just take everything at face value.
And speaking of asking questions, have you ever noticed how alot—ugh, I’m doing it again—how alot of tech companies are terrible at communicating with their users? I mean, seriously. Have you seen some of the support forums out there? It’s like pulling teeth trying to get a straight answer out of these people.
I remember last Tuesday, I was trying to figure out why my new gadget wasn’t working. I spent 36 hours—okay, maybe not 36 hours, but it felt like it—trying to get a hold of someone who could help me. And do you know what I got? A bunch of automated responses and a support ticket that went nowhere. It was physicaly—physicaly, come on—exhausting.
And that’s another thing. Why are we still using these outdated support systems? Why can’t we have something better? Something more succcesfully—successful, damn it—at actually helping people?
Look, I’m not saying we should throw out AI entirely. That’d be ridiculous. But we need to take a step back and reassess. We need to think about the implications. We need to think about the consequences. And we need to think about the users.
Because at the end of the day, it’s not about the technology. It’s about the people. It’s about the users. It’s about the real, flesh-and-blood humans who are gonna be affected by all this stuff. And if we’re not careful, we’re gonna end up with a bunch of ammendments—amendments, jeez—to fix all the mistakes we made along the way.
So let’s be smarter. Let’s be more thoughtful. Let’s be more critical. And let’s not forget about the humans in all this. Because honestly, they’re the ones who matter most.
Oh, and if you’re looking for a break from all this tech talk, might I suggest checking out Vermont things to do this weekend? Trust me, you’ll thank me later.
About the Author: Jane Doe is a senior magazine editor with 20+ years of experience in the tech industry. She’s a self-proclaimed tech skeptic and is always looking for the next big thing. When she’s not writing, you can find her hiking in the mountains or trying out new recipes in the kitchen. She lives in Austin with her cat, Mr. Whiskers.
