Why Hype May Be Harming AI’s Reputation and Workplace Use Rates

The proliferation of headlines alternatively announcing the huge benefits or job-destroying effects of swiftly developing artificial intelligence (AI) had led some experts to warn against overhyping the potentially transformational tech. New studies indicate that now may be the case—and that it could already be souring consumers on AI’s inclusion in various products. A trio of new reports suggest much of the celebratory noise around today’s AI may be unmerited, and possibly ill-advised. The first of those warnings came from executive and technology advisory firm Gartner, based on its poll of 3,412 participants in a January webinar. Using the survey’s findings, Gartner estimated that over 40 percent of all AI projects currently underway will be cancelled by 2028, due to “escalating costs, unclear business value or inadequate risk controls.” That conclusion was based in part on responses from participants about their companies’ AI investments. Their feedback was particularly revealing about spending on the advanced, agentic form of the tech that can autonomously analyze data, make decisions, and take action without human oversight. Despite the frequent talk of the beneficial consequences of using agentic AI, just 19 percent of participants said their companies had made a “significant” investment in the tech, with 42 percent calling that spending “conservative.” About 8 percent said their business had invested nothing in those platforms, with 31 percent describing the current strategy as “wait and see.” Just as disappointing for enthusiasts of the futuristic tech, Gartner said a majority of AI applications now under development aren’t agentic at all, despite claims to the contrary. “Most agentic AI projects right now are early-stage experiments or proof of concepts that are mostly driven by hype and are often misapplied,” said Anushree Verma, Gartner’s senior director analyst. “This can blind organizations to the real cost and complexity of deploying AI agents at scale, stalling projects from moving into production. They need to cut through the hype to make careful, strategic decisions about where and how they apply this emerging technology.” Because there’s a lot more talk than walk on AI so far, Gartner estimated only about 130 “of the thousands of agentic AI vendors are real.” Instead, it explained, most companies involved are “agent washing”—or rebranding existing chatbots or other applications with limited functionality as having agentic capabilities they don’t really possess. That is not to say Gartner doesn’t believe truly agentic AI won’t prove valuable and potentially transformative for both companies developing it, and those adopting it. Its report forecasts that 15 percent of all businesses’ daily work decisions will be made autonomously using the tech by 2028, compared to zero last year. It also anticipated 33 percent of enterprise software applications will include agentic AI before 2028, up from less than 1 percent in 2024. “To get real value from agentic AI, organizations must focus on enterprise productivity, rather than just individual task augmentation,” Verma, differentiating the uses of current AI apps, and the more powerful emerging forms of the tech. “They can start by using AI agents when decisions are needed, automation for routine workflows and assistants for simple retrieval. It’s about driving business value through cost, quality, speed and scale.” Still, the degree of hype currently surrounding AI is apparently doing it a disservice in consumers’ eyes, according to two different studies of how people reacted to products associated with the tech. In one, researchers from Washington State University and Temple University tested groups about fictional products described as being either specifically enhanced by AI, or else operating with more generically termed “new” or “cutting-edge” technologies. The results showed people offered goods touted as using AI were consistently “less likely to say they would want to try, buy, or actively seek out any of the products or services” than participants who’d been offered the less specific new tech variety, according to a Wall Street Journal report. That aversion was even stronger when the goods involved were considered potentially riskier to user privacy, like cars, medical devices, or even smart refrigerators. A similar study came from market-research company Parks Associates, which asked 4,000 people if they’d be more or less inclined to buy an AI-enhanced goods. About 18 percent of respondents said that specification would make them more likely to buy the product, while 24 percent said it made them less inclined to purchase it, and 58 percent reported it made no difference. That marked a significant change over previous surveys on the same topic that had reflected greater consumer responsiveness to the tech. What made the difference? Apparently, all the hype surrounding AI, according to Parks Associates vice president of research, Jennifer Kent. “Before this wave of generative AI attention over the past couple of years, AI-enabled features actually have tested very, very well,” Kent told the paper. If consumer wariness toward AI is rising already, wait until respondents in the next polls catch wind about all the “agent washing” going on, to boot. BY BRUCE CRUMLEY @BRUCEC_INC