MC.64: AI Adoption Reality Check

A take on the yearly presentation from Ben Evans with a focus on AI Adoption

Hey everyone,

I just watched Ben Evans' latest presentation, "AI Eats the World" and it's a reality check on where we actually are with AI.

AI adoption is slow.

ChatGPT saw immense interest, but most users haven't integrated it into their workflows. Only 7% of Americans are using ChatGPT daily. Same goes for businesses, they are experimenting, but few have deployed AI at scale.

As early adopters who discuss daily how AI will change our lives, we tend to think everyone shares our perspective. However, we live in a bubble - half of the population hasn’t even tried ChatGPT:

Less than 50% of the online population tried ChatGPT

Tech shifts happen every 10-15 years - from mainframes to PCs to web to mobile. But this shift is different. As we build products and test ideas, the tech might slow down or blow past what we expect. You could end up building something that's either outdated or broken because you bet on smarter AI coming soon. But with everyone afraid to miss out, we'll figure it out the hard way.

Google and META have no choice but to bet

What's clear is that we're in the early stages, much like when the iPhone first launched, and we're trying to figure out what to do with this new technology.

The initial excitement is giving way to reality. We need to move from tech-push to user-pull innovation, finding specific, high-value use cases rather than trying to force AI adoption everywhere.

Think about it like this: when the iPhone first came out, it was cool, but it took time for developers to create apps that made it indispensable. The same will happen with AI. It demands time, experimentation, and problem-solving but we will get there.

So don’t be afraid to start now, you are not late.

Cheers,

Sam

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