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Companies may do a lot of wishful thinking in their approaches to AI. They continue to invest money in areas where the technology may have a tertiary impact on revenue and expenses, despite indicators those dollars would be better spent elsewhere.
A recent study by MIT is getting attention because it shows the great majority of AI pilot projects fail, though not because of the technology itself. Instead, the issue lies with a lack of integration and learning, as well as the inability of tools like ChatGPT to sync up with corporate workflows.
Ninety-five percent – that’s 95% – of pilot projects “stall” or fail to deliver any kind of measurable on a company’s profit and loss. The remaining 5% succeed because they’re focused. They “pick one pain point, execute well and partner smartly with companies who use their tools,” MIT researcher and lead author Aditya Challapally told Fortune.
Playing in the Right Space
Another issue: Businesses aren’t applying AI to the right work. AI works best with back-office automation, the study said, meaning repetitive and administrative tasks. About half of the dollars put into pilot projects aim at sales and marketing, functions where human participation is important and whose work focuses
