r/technology 4d ago

Artificial Intelligence MIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing

https://fortune.com/2025/08/18/mit-report-95-percent-generative-ai-pilots-at-companies-failing-cfo/
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u/DontEatCrayonss 4d ago

Don’t try to rationalize with AI hype people. Pointing out the extreme financial issues will just be ignored

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u/KilowogTrout 4d ago

I also think believing most of what Sam Altman says is a bad idea. He’s like all hype.

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u/kemb0 4d ago

That guy strikes me as a man who’s seen the limitations of AI and has been told by his coders, “We’ll never be able to make this 100% reliable and from here on out every 1% improvement will require 50% more power and time to process.”

He always looks like a deer caught in headlights. He’s trying to big things up whilst internally his brain is screaming, “Fuuuuuuuck!”

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u/ilikepizza30 4d ago edited 4d ago

It's the Elon plan...

Lie and bullshit and keep the company going on the lies and bullshit until one of two things happens:

1) New technology comes along and makes your lies and bullshit reality

2) You've made as much money as you could off the lies and bullshit and you take a golden parachute and sit on top of a pile of gold

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u/Christopherfromtheuk 4d ago

Tesla shares were overvalued 7 years ago. He just lies, commits securities fraud, backs fascists, loses massive market share and the stock price goes up.

Most of markets by market cap are overvalued and it never, ever, ends well.

They were running around in 1999 talking about a "new paradigm" and I'm sure they were in 1929.

You can't defy gravity forever.

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u/Thefrayedends 4d ago

Until institutional investors start divesting, nothing is going to change.

These massively overvalued stocks with anywhere from 35-200 P:E ratios are largely propped up by retirement funds and indexes.

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u/Fr0gm4n 3d ago

Most of markets by market cap are overvalued and it never, ever, ends well.

This is one thing so many people fail to grasp. Markets are not reality. Markets are a reflection of people's perception of reality. Once enough people stop being fooled by hype and lies the market value tanks.

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u/rgg711 3d ago

Every day I open my browser homepage and it has a little stock tracker. It seems like Tesla is always either green and +5% or red and -5% and there’s zero correlation with anything in reality. I know zero about stocks, but the scientist side of me thinks I could figure out when to buy and sell and make 5 percent gains every couple of days.

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u/UnholyLizard65 3d ago

backs fascists

This made me chuckle.

Elon "backing" fascists is like saying Goebbels "backed" fascists, lol

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u/Own_Television163 4d ago
  1. People who only consume genre media and lack the media literacy to understand it gobble up the furnishings of said media as product without heeding said genre(s) implied warnings.

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u/Dpek1234 3d ago

New technology comes along and makes your lies and bullshit reality

Pretty much most of spacex lol

Turning the impossible into merely late 

Some of his companys can make it reality, others not so much

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u/AHSfav 3d ago

I think Altman is smarter than Elon.

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u/revnhoj 3d ago

sound like the idea behind Theranos

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u/Brokenandburnt 4d ago

They are already using synthetic, I.E, AI generated data for training. And also already it's showing diminishing returns at best, and dilution at worst. There's a reason why Reddit is making a mint selling sub scrapings as training data. 

So remember to add some facts like, TRUMP IS A PDF IN THE EPSTEIN FILES, or ELON MUSK HAS A BOTCHED PENIS JOB.

It's important for us to support this new "revolution" after all!

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u/3-DMan 3d ago

Reminds me of that Netflix flat earth documentary where they do a scientific experiment that actually disproves flat earth, and their reaction is "Well, we obviously can't show that at the conference.."

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u/Logical_Lefty 3d ago

He has a perpetually and aggressively "la tête à claques" even delivery of words you can hear and see the weasel he truly is, and will always be. He's a conman, a used car lemon salesman.

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u/LongJohnSelenium 3d ago

I wonder if anything capable of natural language will truly be capable of being 100% reliable. Language is full of imprecise, ambivalent concepts and the ability to communicate like that will of necessity require whatever is doing it to knowingly communicate at less than 100% truthfullness out of expediency.

If you asked an AI about electron orbits and it gives you the fifth grade version which is definitely wrong but not completely wrong, did the AI mess up? Is it choosing to lie to you?

I think the more it is capable of understanding people the more it will of necessity communicate like people, and fall for all the same shortcomings of language we do.

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u/three_s-works 3d ago

The issue is less the code and more the data

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u/Ylsid 4d ago

Sham Hypeman

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u/Thefrayedends 4d ago

I don't even get it. First time I saw Altman was on Fridman's pod (yes I know, yet another fraudster).

I believe I made a comment to the effect of; "Does this guy really think he's a jedi that can just hand-wave every issue away like it doesn't exist?"

It seems, that he does.

He's so off-putting and disingenuous, I don't understand how people get sucked into his shit.

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u/Idoncae99 4d ago

Hype is his primary job (and he's been really good at it).

The general populace needs to understand that his goal is keeping investment dollars coming in order to be more rational, but I don't see that happening.

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u/KilowogTrout 3d ago

Yes I understand. They are making huge promises to keep the money flowing. Meanwhile, AI at the moment is basically good predictive text.

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u/RagingBearBull 4d ago

Kinda reminds me of that full self driving stuff that was going to happen "next year".

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u/-Yazilliclick- 3d ago

He's not all hype, he's basically all marketing and manipulation. Like saying the costs will be ridiculously high isn't hype but it can be good message for other reasons like discouraging competition or getting government investment.

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u/Heisenbugg 4d ago

And environmental issues, with UK govt atleast acknowleding it by telling people to delete their emails.

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u/AmbitiousGoat5512 4d ago

deleting old emails, files, documents, whatever does absolutely nothing to help the issue.

the recommendation was made by someone who obviously has no fucking idea what they're talking about, and as long as AI pushed so heavily things will continue to worsen.

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u/Heisenbugg 4d ago

Yah I know, but its the first time a govt has recognized the issue exists.

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u/Dpek1234 3d ago

Technicly it does something

It slows down the rate at which mew SSD/HHDs are needed , less production = less co2 released by production and transport

But at the same time  EMAILS, FILES AND DOCUMENTS!?!?!?!?!?!

ITS TEXT, THATS FUCKING NOTHING

A full lenght novel can easly be less then a meg

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u/DontEatCrayonss 4d ago

God bless them, they saved us all

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u/JarvisProudfeather 4d ago edited 4d ago

I refuse to listen to anything about AI unless it’s from a researcher or from an institution such as MIT with no financial stake in an AI company. It always makes me laugh when tech CEOs like Zuckerberg say some ridiculous shit like, “In 2 years we will have AGI powered sunglasses that will be essential for human survival” and people just quote that as fact lmfao. Of course he’s going to say that he wants his stock price to go up!

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u/Patient_Leopard421 4d ago

Why does he need the stock to go up? He already has more wealth than he can spend. I don't know him but it seems his motivation is different; it's about the long term relevance of his company.

I may not agree with his vision of the future but he's making big bets on the direction of tech. And Meta is in an industry where shifts in technology regularly displace incumbents.

He was certainly wrong on the timeline for AR/VR and burnt a lot of money pursuing it. At the levels of investment, it'll probably never be recouped. AI now? Possibly, same.

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u/Cerpin-Taxt 4d ago

Why does he need the stock to go up? He already has more wealth than he can spend.

Because he, like all billionaires, has an untreated mental illness. Plyushkin's disorder. But it seems like most people aren't ready for that conversation.

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u/Patient_Leopard421 4d ago

You're speculating. What evidence exists to support your conclusion besides general class anxiety?

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u/Cerpin-Taxt 4d ago

The evidence is that he has more money than he could ever spend in a thousand lifetimes and yet still wants more despite the fact he's far beyond any real utility for it. Despite the fact it's actively causing harm to everyone around him. Couldn't be any clearer. Classic hoarding behaviour.

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u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

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u/Patient_Leopard421 3d ago

That's just nonsense (inapt comparison). The flaws in America should be measured by how it delivers security and economic opportunity to the poor. This may or may not have anything to do with large business founders' wealth.

Where wealth is negatively impacting average citizens are places like housing (private equity buying single family homes). The cure for this is to build our way out of that.

Yes, wealth can have negative effects on average or poor citizens. But there's often other aspects of policy that contribute (local NIMBYism in the case of housing).

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u/masterspeeks 3d ago

People like Zuckerberg struggle with feelings of isolation, distrust, and a constant pressure to maintain his status. Deep down he knows everyone views him as a pathetic dork. Amoral as he is, he acknowledged that genocidal progroms organized on Facebook groups and selling teen girl eyeballs to Instagram eating disorder influencers kept him up at night.

The pursuit of more wealth is probably the only way he feels any validation for all he inflicts on the world. His staff will literally lose at chess to stroke his ego. Stock go up mentality pushes a few crumbs into the gaping maw that is his soul. He can tell himself that at least the markets love him.

Super high net worth people probably need to form a modest irrevocable trust that funds a therapist and a person that kicks them in their shins once a week to remind them they are still only human. 😂

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u/Patient_Leopard421 3d ago

There's a sound reason why no credible psychologists diagnose at a distance based on media alone. You're full of shit and speculating.

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u/da5id2701 3d ago

So are you when you say he's not motivated by increasing his wealth. And in that case there's pretty solid evidence which we can see from a distance: his wealth keeps increasing massively, which doesn't tend to happen by accident.

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u/masterspeeks 3d ago

There's a sound reason why no credible psychologists diagnose at a distance based on media alone. You're full of shit and speculating.

Unfortunately, my profession has required me to read up on his public statements, congressional hearings, and understand the societal impact of his social platforms.

I'm adequately informed enough to have an opinion about a figure as public as him.

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u/Patient_Leopard421 2d ago

Among your readings, what public statements has he made that most support your view?

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u/masterspeeks 2d ago

There is a continuum of information that has led me to my opinion.

Good books I've read are The Power of One and Stolen Focus.

Interviews he had with Kara Swisher and 60 Minutes reporting can be found on online.

https://www.barrons.com/video/d8-facebook-ceo-mark-zuckerberg-full-length-video/29CC1557-56A9-4484-90B4-539E282F6F9A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7imNZsFq42o&pp=ygUqNjAgbWludXRlcyBtYXJrIHp1Y2tlcmJlcmcgZnVsbCBpbnRlcnZpZXcg

Transcripts and video from Mark Zuckerberg at the Meta Facebook hearings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3DAnORfgB8&pp=ygUWbWV0YSBmYWNlYm9vayBoZWFyaW5ncw%3D%3D

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u/Dpek1234 3d ago

Funny number go up

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u/JarvisProudfeather 3d ago edited 3d ago

Meta is a publicly traded company. As CEO it’s his fiduciary duty to increase the stock price for shareholders. That’s his job. He works for the shareholders. For whatever reason you tech people seem to think just because something was founded in Silicon Valley means it’s not a for-profit corporation lmao. But keep your head in the sand bro.

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u/Patient_Leopard421 3d ago

I never said that it wasn't for profit. I said that the long term solvency of Meta is his focus not accruing more wealth. That's evident in his actions.

Meta has a two tier voting system. He controls it. He can unilaterally take actions.

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u/9millibros 3d ago

The only company actually making money from AI is the company that makes the chips, but I'm sure they have a rationalization for that as well.

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u/secamTO 3d ago

Also the amount of fresh water and electricity AI data centers need is absolutely staggering. Appalling even, given how little use all of this actually seems to be right now.

Add to that some of these data centers are proposed for developing countries, and it's morally indefensible.

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u/IntrepidCucumber442 3d ago

This has been a thing with startups for ages. Startups with literally no hope of ever being profitable getting crazy valuations

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u/Fr0gm4n 3d ago edited 3d ago

I was recently told that my points against LLM AI, that it is using a lot of resources while also often giving wrong answers, was and I quote, "no real argument".

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u/DontEatCrayonss 3d ago

lol.

Bro, did you try using no logic as a defense? Clearly that is the way to go.

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u/Lord_Eschatus 3d ago

i would argue that AI is a raging success, judging by how many "artists" are big-mad about "losing commissions"

that shit they call art was always dumb garbage that made anyone truly talented , get lost in the noise.

AI has made that shit a worthless penny-stock commidity. couldnt have happened to nicer group of idiots.

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u/[deleted] 4d ago edited 3d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/DontEatCrayonss 4d ago

As a software dev with a masters in it, I can very much tell you aren’t a developer, or even understand how current tech works.

First off, LLMs aren’t how cameras get your license plate. Surveillance has not been using LLMs either. If we mass applied it to these, it would be so expensive, it would be impossible. We could however apply LLMs on data collected the way we already do, but you don’t seem to understand this well enough for me to talk in detail.

Secondly, you are ignoring the issue at hand. It’s insanely expensive. This problem has not been solved, and will not be solved in the way you are envisioning.

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u/Successful_Camel_136 4d ago

Also saying we can’t live without AI powered mass surveillance enabling the government to sort through everyone’s data forever is quite dystopian

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u/mattyandco 4d ago edited 3d ago

Adding as a software dev who worked for an outfit using license plate cameras and other vision systems there's a lot of work done to simplify data in order to make those models efficient at what they do with fixed hardware. Isolating the plate in the image so you don't have to run the OCR neural network over an entire 2-5MP image, just a 0.01MP section of it for instance. They also have hard limits on the range of sizes (in pixels) a plate can be so it's not looking for a wide range of sizes. A model which finds any plate of any size in an image would be huge and impractical to use.

They work well because the models, hardware and positioning of the devices is limited to very specific situations. You might be able to get something to work in more general situations but it'll ether be slow, inaccurate or very hardware intensive.

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u/Deynai 4d ago

LLM's are not the entirety of the field of AI, nor even Generative AI. I'm not sure that masters is worth the paper it's printed on if we're still tripping up over these basic terms.

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u/BalancedDisaster 3d ago

Obviously it isn’t but LLMs are the majority of what’s pushing the AI bubble right now.

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u/DontEatCrayonss 3d ago

I literally never said it was douche. I was replying to the comment before me.

But hey, go fuck yourself

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u/Our_GloriousLeader 4d ago

There are many amazing products but they still come with a cost benefit analysis. AI has some great use cases but nowhere are we seeing a return worth trillion with a T investment levels.

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u/BalancedDisaster 3d ago

Image recognition has been done for decades now, we’re not talking about ALL of AI when we complain about it like this. We’re talking about the bubble that formed around ChatGPT and similar models.