Remember when ChatGPT dropped out of nowhere and everyone said, "AI is the future"? Three years after its launch in late 2022, many businesses are asking, "Okay, but where's the money?" 🤖💸
ROI: Where Are the Profits?
Recent surveys in 2025 reveal the hype-versus-reality gap:
- Only 15% of 1,576 execs saw profit margins improve thanks to AI in Q2, according to Forrester Research.
- Just 5% of 1,250 executives surveyed by BCG between May and mid-July say they’ve unlocked widespread value from AI.
Challenges in the Real World
At CellarTracker, a wine-collection app, CEO Eric LeVine spent six weeks tweaking prompts so its AI sommelier would stop being too polite and start giving honest recommendations 🍷. The result? A chatbot that can finally say, "This vintage probably isn’t for you" without sugarcoating.
Meanwhile, Cando Rail and Terminals tested an AI assistant to summarize the 100-page Canadian Rail Operating Rules. Surprise: the model hallucinated rules, forgot key sections and struggled to stay on script 🛤️. The project is on pause as the team explores new angles.
And at Swedish payments giant Klarna, an OpenAI-powered agent launched in early 2024 to handle customer service. By 2025, CEO Sebastian Siemiathowski had to admit some tasks still need a human touch—the AI can manage simple queries but complex issues bounce back to live agents 💬.
The Jagged Frontier of AI
Large language models ace math puzzles and code snippets but can stumble on straightforward tasks. Researchers call this mix of genius and goof-ups the "jagged frontier". As May Habib, CEO of AI startup Writer, puts it, "Companies need more handholding in making AI tools actually useful for them."
It might be 2025, but the AI revolution is still in progress. Companies believe in its potential, yet they're hitting pause on the hype train to focus on small, practical wins. Stay tuned—this ride is far from over! 🚀
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
