AI is making it dramatically easier for people to automate the work they do. But is there a risk of getting buried in an avalanche of enterprise automation?
The latest advances in AI have brought us to the brink of a massive upsurge in enterprise automation. But will this deliver the promised benefits? AI is still subject to all the same caveats that apply to any new technology. It will take longer than we expect to make a huge difference — per Bill Gates’ adage that we overestimate what we can achieve in one year but underestimate what can be done in ten. In the first few years, people will apply the technology to speed up what they already do rather than use it for true innovation — the horseless carriage syndrome. As a consequence of these two factors, much of the investment in AI in the next few years will be wasted. But just like John Wanamaker’s spend on advertising, the difficulty for enterprises will be knowing which investments will turn out to have been in vain.