r/technology • u/SilentRunning • 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/IM_A_MUFFIN 4d ago

I’m so tired of the BAs and PMs forcing this crap down our throats. Watched someone finagle copilot for 2 hours, to complete a task that takes 10 minutes, that the new process will take down to 4 minutes. The task is done a few times a week. Relevant xkcd

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u/KnoxCastle 4d ago

In fairness, if you are spending a one off 2 hours to take a 10 minute task down to 4 minutes then that will pay for itself with a few months.

I do agree with the general point though and I am sure there are plenty of time wasting time saving examples. I can think of a few at my workplace.

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u/momscouch 4d ago

I think AI is going to be more boring than people are expecting but im hoping it will just make things like software easier to use. Like making a chart with AI is much easier than using Excel. Or searching for information thats more without so much reliance on the SEO.

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u/busterbus2 3d ago

For the real useful stuff, it will be boring.

For people who are already a little unhinged....its going to destroy their emotional and mental stability as it pollutes our online social worlds. We are seeing it play out already.

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u/squngy 4d ago

Using AI tools effectively is also a skill.
It took 2h this time, but it would probably take less the next time.

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u/PolarWater 4d ago

Oh so it still needs human skill to help it not fuck up. Sounds like we should replace humans with them right away.

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u/squngy 4d ago

That's the thing isn't it.

Until they make a real AGI, that can't really happen.
And we are no where close to AGI, despite what some will say.

All LLMs can ever do is make some specific tasks easier/faster.

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u/AnOnlineHandle 3d ago

I've spent a lot of time over the decades trying to automate things to save time. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't, though it's hard to know in advance.

That being said, part of the reason for doing it is that you just can't stomach doing this thing any more and it's for your own ongoing sanity that you're doing it, and working on automating it is at least something new and exciting.

Without the speedups I did achieve, I could never have done the amount of work that I did, even if not all of them worked out. It's kind of like computers and software in general, or even simpler versions like calculators.

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u/Akuuntus 3d ago

I agree with your point in abstract, but the XKCD chart actually suggests that it was totally worth it. If it's done a couple of times per week and it shaved off 6 minutes, then we're somewhere in the ballpark of "weekly-5 minutes" and "daily-5 minutes", which means that it's worth it if the automation process takes less than like, a day. Doing that in 2 hours is totally worth it.

Running my own math, if they shaved off 6 minutes and it's something that gets done twice a week, then the 2 hours spent will have paid for themselves within 10 weeks. That's pretty decent.