IS AI READY FOR US?
Don't ask if we are prepared for AI; instead, ask if they are
7/1/20263 min read
I use AI extensively and have encountered some concerning limitations in the tools. However, I don't use it as much as my eldest daughter, who is now a specialist in videos created entirely using AI. Working for an international agency, she delivers at least three or four videos daily—ranging from one to three minutes in length—generated wholly by AI from AI-constructed images.
The agency she works for isn't huge, but it is highly efficient. Although it employs around ten editors who don't always use AI (unlike my daughter), the agency holds corporate accounts for Kling, ChatGPT, Gemini, and so on. These are the top-tier, full-feature accounts for each tool. Even so, my daughter runs into the following problems every day:
Excessive delays in video generation with Kling. This issue alternates with videos being generated containing glaring errors.
Image limits in ChatGPT—even the most expensive plan cannot deliver the volume of images they require daily. Every day, the tool either takes too long to generate images or reports that the daily limit has been reached.
Delays and errors with Gemini—while Gemini doesn't have a hard image limit, the tool often takes an absurd amount of time to generate requested images or reports an error and asks the user to try again later.
Across the board—amateurish errors, inexplicable glitches, inconsistencies, and so on. While all of this is standard in IT, most AI tools offer no support, even for corporate accounts. In other words, you pay as a business entity but get the kind of support usually reserved for individual consumers.
During the pandemic, my company struggled with Vimeo, which pulled a stunt that could easily be characterized as a ransom scheme: suddenly—just as every company was using video and consumption was surging—Vimeo decided to drastically alter its billing model. They cited an obscure clause in their Terms of Use that empowered them to change billing methods whenever a client’s data transfer volume reached the level of the top 1% of highest-consuming clients. In short: an obscure data point, an impossible calculation, and an unquestionable decision. Consequently, the monthly cost was not only capped but also increased thirtyfold. To top it off—despite this being a corporate account—communication was handled via email, and the moment the deadline they set arrived, they simply cut off the video streaming service.
In my last article, I argued that having a "retention" or "customer success" department is a mistake, as it reveals a company's inability to build genuine customer relationships. In the case of AI, the situation is a mix of this IT-sector myopia and arrogance regarding the solutions being offered. These companies believe they have no competition and that it is up to the customer to accept whatever terms are imposed.
The problem with this line of thinking is that it is delusional. There are very few market segments where competition—however imperfect—does not exist. In most cases, the lack of alternatives is temporary, and companies eventually find themselves grappling with rising churn rates.
This corporate arrogance—the belief that customers are not essential—dates back to the "New Economy" era of the late 1990s. During the first wave of the Internet, companies chased investor capital, treating customers merely as numbers used to inflate valuations.
This leads me to believe we are in a similar moment regarding AI. When a company's market value treats sales revenue as a mere detail, a bubble exists. The question is not whether it will burst, but how. A correction is inevitable, though it might happen in stages. When the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, the result was a "scorched-earth" scenario that caused widespread suffering; subsequent corrections were more segmented or "staggered."
To me—both as a user and an executive—bubbles and their subsequent bursts are crucial, inherent elements of a market driven by cutting-edge technology and speculation. The real issue is how this will impact companies, bearing in mind that such shifts inevitably create both risks and opportunities. That is why I never bet against or in favor of bubbles; I seek the path with the greatest longevity and sustainability.