Amid the Mainstream Boom, AI skeptics say the tech is overhyped

Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT will “unequivocally go mainstream” by 2023, according to a new study of more than 1,500 professionals working in technology and related fields. However, despite rapid adoption, most respondents still see AI as overhyped. Less than a quarter called it “correctly rated.”

A survey conducted by Ritol found widespread enthusiasm tempered by skepticism. Retool, founded in June 2017 and part of the Y Combinator accelerator program, provides a platform for building internal business software using a visual development interface.

“By 2023, AI—especially generative AI—has unequivocally gone mainstream,” the report states. “Everyone seems to have played with large language models (LLMs) – and with over 100 million weekly active users, ChatGPT has practically become a household name.

Teachers, talk show hosts and even grandparents now use AI chatbots for more than just laughs, the study found. But real-world applications only “scratch the surface” of AI's capabilities.

More than half of respondents (51.6%) still rated AI as overrated, while only 23.4% rated it fairly. Senior leaders and executives have shown excellent attitudes. Software engineers closer to implementation work have become more skeptical.

AI is changing jobs and industries

Respondents agreed that AI will significantly change their industries and jobs within five years. On an impact scale of 0 to 10, the average score exceeded 7. Those in operations roles expect the highest level of change, followed by product managers and engineers.

Expectations are focused on four key areas: efficiency gains, less tedious work, new learning capabilities, and updated design processes. But respondents want assurances that AI will grow safely.

“They also had a big, important question: investment in AI governance and ethics to ensure the technology's future moves in a positive direction,” the report urges.

Dependent on stack overflow drops

Many engineers now rely on the popular programming site Stack Overflow for help with coding. Nearly 60% of survey participants will use Stack Overflow less by 2022. Of those, 1 in 10 will stop using it altogether.

The reason cited for the fall? GitHub Assistant and ChatGPT. Together they accounted for 94% of the responses.

Launched in 2021, GitHub Copilot suggests code in context for programmers. The AI ​​tool works like an automated pair programmer.

Are AI skills needed now?

When assessing the likelihood of hiring skilled candidates using ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot, respondents averaged a 6.7 on a 10-point scale. Small startups showed the greatest openness, while medium-sized enterprises were more cautious.

But nearly 30% still described themselves as neutral on AI coding skills. Only very rarely did respondents see them as negative.

“While the ability to use AI to write code has some degree of positive impact for the majority (63.2%), many respondents (27.1%) were still very neutral,” the report said.

What's behind the corporate hunger for AI?

Survey respondents see cost savings and buzz as driving most businesses to pursue AI. Among the main reasons cited were price reduction (38.7%), timeliness (35.2%), customer demand (32.9%) and competitive pressure (31.1%).

In contrast, only 25.5% cited direct revenue impact as a key driver. The report suggests that companies may look to AI to reduce costs while increasing revenue, at least for now.

AI is useful, but not perfect

Those companies that actively use AI tools rate them as very useful, if not perfect. Issues related to authenticity, data security and privacy top their list of complaints.

“No matter why you use them, today's AI tools are far from perfect,” the report wisely observes. But understanding the strengths and weaknesses of any technology can help you put it to good use.

Nearly 40 percent of survey respondents named “accuracy of model output” as a key pain point for creating AI applications, with “illusion” coming in third at 28.1 percent. Information security among them is 33.4%.

Will OpenAI's dominance last?

For enterprises implementing AI, OpenAI's natural language offerings drive greater adoption than other vendors. The various flavors of ChatGPT constitute respondents' most-used models by a wide margin.

But sticking with off-the-shelf offerings still boils down to customization. Companies are currently specializing in self-hosted open source algorithms rather than using packaged services.

Behind the numbers

The insights in the Ritol report come from a public survey of 1,578 respondents in August. Technology workers accounted for 39% of participants, followed by consulting and professional services at 12% and financial services at 10%.

More than a third classified themselves as engineers, more than a fifth in operations roles and 12 percent as product managers. 17 percent had a C-suite title such as CEO, 28% were mid-level managers, and 20% had entry-level positions.

Companies with between 1 and 99 employees account for 60% of the total, medium-sized enterprises with 100 to 999 employees account for 26%, and large enterprises with more than 1,000 employees account for the remaining 14%.

Editor's note: This story was prepared by Decrypt AI from sources cited in the article, and Fact confirmed By Ryan Ozawa.