Artificial intelligence is losing hype
For some, that is proof the tech will in time succeed. Are they right?

Silicon Valley’s tech bros are having a difficult few weeks. A growing number of investors worry that artificial intelligence (AI) will not deliver the vast profits they seek. Since peaking last month the share prices of Western firms driving the ai revolution have dropped by 10%. A growing number of observers now question the limitations of large language models, which power services such as ChatGPT. Big tech firms have spent tens of billions of dollars on ai models, with even more extravagant promises of future outlays. Yet according to the latest data from the Census Bureau, only 5.1% of American companies use ai to produce goods and services, down from a high of 5.4% early this year. Roughly the same share intend to do so in the coming months.
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “Hype about the hype cycle”

From the August 24th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the edition
Don’t tax wealth
Even the most sophisticated arguments in favour of doing so make no sense

Credit markets look increasingly dangerous
A pair of bankruptcies highlight the risks

How the Trump administration learned to love foreign aid
America’s international assistance has not been destroyed—it has been transformed
The eccentric investment strategy that beats the rest
Introducing the 25/25/25/25 portfolio
China’s stockmarket rally may hurt the economy
The “wealth effect” is not the only way it has an impact
The economics of self-driving taxis
Waymo is a case study in automation