Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all the rage but are these laudables premature? Is it in really Artificial Unintelligence (AU) or just latest manifestation of the 30+ year old Expert System and a passing fad?
Recently, none the less than Google (parent Alphabet) suffered a $100 billion market setback when their AI strategy suffered a lack luster performance. This pundit has believed for a while that AI is ‘not ready for prime time,’ despite the continual harping about this world changing too.
IT hype is not new. The modern era for Information Technology most likely started with Alan Turing’s ‘Machine,’ circa 1936. Ever since, society has endowed these inanimate objects with special ‘human like’ powers. In our 2023 book, Smart Manufacturing: Integrating Transformational Technologies for Competitiveness and Sustainability, we asked the question regarding Machine Learning. “What do you do if your machine is learning the wrong things?”
In our forthcoming (2025) book, Navigating the Data Minefields: Management’s Guide to Better Decision-Making, we address this issue and its management in great detail. In the meantime, management is well advised to treat all new technologies with a skeptical mind regards of what internal and external proponents with their agendas argue.
We have known for decades that IT projects need to undergo the same scrutiny as any capital expense. So why do these projects still get a pass?
Over the years, we have chronicled major corporate failure such as Bud Light. A nine (9) percent equity hit on one day because of AI hype puts that organization in that league. Use common sense in technology assessments!
What guardrails does your organization have in place to prevent major technology faux pas?
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The author’s credentials in this field are available on his LinkedIn page. Moreover, Dr. Shemwell is a coauthor of the just published book, “Smart Manufacturing: Integrating Transformational Technologies for Competitiveness and Sustainability.” His focus is on Operational Technologies.
“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.” (Martin Luther King speech at Cornell College, 1962). For more information on Cross Cultural Engagement, check out our Cross Cultural Serious Game. You can contact this author as well.
For more details regarding climate change models, check out Bjorn Lomborg ands his latest book, False Alarm: How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts the Poor, and Fails to Fix the Planet.
Regarding the economics of Climate Change, check out our blog, Crippling Green.
For those start-up firms addressing energy (including renewables) challenges, the author can put you in touch with Global Energy Mentors which provide no-cost mentoring services from energy experts. If interested, check it out and give me a shout.