AI's Near-Term Future Might Be a Bit Overblown

[wlyonsatl]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/wall-street-big-tech-ai-100316317.html

There's nothing Wall Street loves more than a "Sure Thing".

Previous Sure Things have been biotech, riverboat gambling, Y2K, etc., etc.

Some eventually made some investors money. Others faded away, never to be heard of again.

[aprovado]

Not too sure about AI and it's future as an investment, but - I'm betting long on cinnamon rolls, alcohol and toilet paper.

[wlyonsatl]

The Wall Street Journal reports, "OpenAI has a method to reliably detect when someone uses ChatGPT to write an essay or research paper. The company hasn’t released it despite widespread concerns about students using artificial intelligence to cheat."

Professors and teachers, as well as Upwork clients, who don't like receiving AI-generated proposals might soon have some relief.

[williamtcooper]

GenAI is only getting better by the day.

Enterprises are slower to adapt due to a variety of reasons that will disappear quickly enough.

SMB are using GenAI continually.

[williamtcooper]

My GenAI sale are up 70% 2024/2023 both off and on Upwork.

However, I am an expert with hundreds of client GenAI engagements.

[wlyonsatl]

Sounds like you are in the sweet spot of benefitting from general (or specific) AI applications.

I see no useful applications of AI in my little corner of Upwork heaven. That might change, but probably not any time soon.

[williamtcooper]

If you are still in business planning and financials, that niche is sizzling with the use of GenAI.

I have had many financial GenAI clients this year getting up to speed to leapfrog their competition with these tools.

Start by obtaining the premium version of ChatGPT.

With GenAI I have not had a need for Excel, BI, Tableau, data science, etc. because it's built into GenAI if one knows how to use these tools

[wlyonsatl]

I'll take a look.

[wlyonsatl]

Can you provide a link or two where there is analysis of use of AI in business planning and financial forecasting/budgeting? I can see where advanced mathematics and statistical analysis might help with some types of financial forecasting, but actually writing useful, insightful business plans? I'm very interested to see where AI is contributing to improvements in this area.

[williamtcooper]

I would recommend going to Coursera and start the process of taking the GenAI specialization courses by either Vanderbilt University or IBM.

Vanderbilt is the leader in Universities worldwide for GenAI and IBM the leader in the business community. Each of the ten specialization certifications tend to be around 50 hours each per organization.

[wlyonsatl]

It's a tool t'hat will gain traction, no doubt, as the "Internet" eventually did over time after being blown out of proportion by investors' greed, hopes and wishes. A large proportion of early investors in companies like Pets.com, Yahoo, etc., etc. lost a lot of money in the early days. It's how investment fads work - early over-excitement and optimism, the dogs are winnowed out of the pack, then the best firms and technologies rise to the top. We're still in phase one with AI.

So far, many major companies are not seeing a big return on their investment in AI.

In its August 7, 2024 press release Upwork said:

GSV from AI-related work grew 67% year-over-year in Q2
Number of clients engaging in AI-related projects grew 50% year-over-year in Q2
Daily active users of Upwork Chat Pro, powered by Uma™, Upwork’s Mindful AI, grew 68% quarter-over-quarter

Of course, it would have been helpful, and given these statistics meaning, if the original or most recent number of clients, active users, etc. had been given. If a number was initially very small in Q223, then even 68% growth has no significant meaning.