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CEOs to Keep Spending on AI, Despite Spotty Returns

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Re: CEOs to Keep Spending on AI, Despite Spotty Returns

#41

Post by NikolaNovak »

JohnMakin wrote: post #26
Der_Einzige wrote: post #11

The “AI is in a bubble crowd” still has no answer to “why didn’t the tech bubble pop in 2022?” Snowflake bought streanlit (a bad python UI/UX) for 800 million in 2022. I still have not seen a single deal even close to that bad post 2023, and especially post interest rate hikes. https://datafortune.com/snowflake-acquires-streamlit-for-usd... Actually investing in AI is smart and will deliver unfathomable ROI. AI bears…

unfathomable. The imagination has no limits. It could be billions, trillions even! The fact we do not know only means we don't know how high the ceiling can be. It could even be gazillions!

"It could even be a boat!" :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZpIog7e-R4

Re: CEOs to Keep Spending on AI, Despite Spotty Returns

#42

Post by Borborygymus »

ryandrake wrote: post #17
bArray wrote: post #13

> After a year in which trillions of dollars worth of AI investments buoyed global markets and the economy, 68% of CEOs plan to spend even more on AI in 2026 They are too far in to turn back. They got into AI via fear of missing out (FOMO) and now they are too heavily invested to write it off on their balance sheet. To revert now would cause nothing but trouble. > Less than half of current AI projects had generated m…

The promise of being able to run a business without having to employ people is just too alluring to these guys. They feel like they're nearly on the cusp of it: Like any day now, the technology will be there, and it can just be AI + robots, and the C-suite and shareholders can just pocket all the returns. No more pesky bags of meat to feed and clothe. You can feel it--they are absolutely salivating over the idea. "If…

I concur.

Re: CEOs to Keep Spending on AI, Despite Spotty Returns

#43

Post by msdz »

turnsout wrote: post #21
bArray wrote: post #13

> After a year in which trillions of dollars worth of AI investments buoyed global markets and the economy, 68% of CEOs plan to spend even more on AI in 2026 They are too far in to turn back. They got into AI via fear of missing out (FOMO) and now they are too heavily invested to write it off on their balance sheet. To revert now would cause nothing but trouble. > Less than half of current AI projects had generated m…

Having seen a lot of AI-generated ads, I'm so skeptical that AI is actually improving marketing metrics. Every time I see one of these abominations on YouTube I think "is this working for you?" With that said, I'm long-term bullish on AI. A lot of companies will over invest, just as they did during the dot-com bubble. But some of those investments will actually pay off, because this technology is not going anywhere.

Regarding your first paragraph, I've even talked with people who go out of their way to actively _avoid_ said product after encountering AI-generated advertising. So that'll probably continue to have an effect for as long as average people with good eyes can still distinguish "AI"/generative media from "real"/traditional footage.

Re: CEOs to Keep Spending on AI, Despite Spotty Returns

#44

Post by rsynnott »

turnsout wrote: post #21
bArray wrote: post #13

> After a year in which trillions of dollars worth of AI investments buoyed global markets and the economy, 68% of CEOs plan to spend even more on AI in 2026 They are too far in to turn back. They got into AI via fear of missing out (FOMO) and now they are too heavily invested to write it off on their balance sheet. To revert now would cause nothing but trouble. > Less than half of current AI projects had generated m…

Having seen a lot of AI-generated ads, I'm so skeptical that AI is actually improving marketing metrics. Every time I see one of these abominations on YouTube I think "is this working for you?" With that said, I'm long-term bullish on AI. A lot of companies will over invest, just as they did during the dot-com bubble. But some of those investments will actually pay off, because this technology is not going anywhere.

Measuring the effectiveness of ad campaigns, particularly in the short term, is notoriously difficult. They likely mostly don't _know_ if it's working at this point (though, yeah, I'd kind of assume it isn't.)

Re: CEOs to Keep Spending on AI, Despite Spotty Returns

#45

Post by bArray »

turnsout wrote: post #21
bArray wrote: post #13

> After a year in which trillions of dollars worth of AI investments buoyed global markets and the economy, 68% of CEOs plan to spend even more on AI in 2026 They are too far in to turn back. They got into AI via fear of missing out (FOMO) and now they are too heavily invested to write it off on their balance sheet. To revert now would cause nothing but trouble. > Less than half of current AI projects had generated m…

Having seen a lot of AI-generated ads, I'm so skeptical that AI is actually improving marketing metrics. Every time I see one of these abominations on YouTube I think "is this working for you?" With that said, I'm long-term bullish on AI. A lot of companies will over invest, just as they did during the dot-com bubble. But some of those investments will actually pay off, because this technology is not going anywhere.

> Having seen a lot of AI-generated ads, I'm so skeptical that AI is actually improving marketing metrics.

I'm sure that firing tonnes of marketing people for prompt engineers will be a good return on investment... Perhaps it reveals something deeper - which is that a 30 second Youtube ad doesn't generate that much revenue at all.

> With that said, I'm long-term bullish on AI

In the long run, yes. But a lot of people will end up losing their shirts over this.

Re: CEOs to Keep Spending on AI, Despite Spotty Returns

#46

Post by turnsout »

bArray wrote: post #45
turnsout wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having seen a lot of AI-generated ads, I'm so skeptical that AI is actually improving marketing metrics. Every time I see one of these abominations on YouTube I think "is this working for you?" With that said, I'm long-term bullish on AI. A lot of companies will over invest, just as they did during the dot-com bubble. But some of those investments will actually pay off, because this technology is not going anywhere.

> Having seen a lot of AI-generated ads, I'm so skeptical that AI is actually improving marketing metrics. I'm sure that firing tonnes of marketing people for prompt engineers will be a good return on investment... Perhaps it reveals something deeper - which is that a 30 second Youtube ad doesn't generate that much revenue at all. > With that said, I'm long-term bullish on AI In the long run, yes. But a lot of people…

> But a lot of people will end up losing their shirts over this.

Oh absolutely. In particular, it's hard for me to see a path forward for OpenAI. If they implode, it will be a tsunami.

Re: CEOs to Keep Spending on AI, Despite Spotty Returns

#47

Post by turnsout »

rsynnott wrote: post #44
turnsout wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having seen a lot of AI-generated ads, I'm so skeptical that AI is actually improving marketing metrics. Every time I see one of these abominations on YouTube I think "is this working for you?" With that said, I'm long-term bullish on AI. A lot of companies will over invest, just as they did during the dot-com bubble. But some of those investments will actually pay off, because this technology is not going anywhere.

Measuring the effectiveness of ad campaigns, particularly in the short term, is notoriously difficult. They likely mostly don't _know_ if it's working at this point (though, yeah, I'd kind of assume it isn't.)

Really? It shouldn't be difficult to measure the performance of a YouTube campaign. There are very clear metrics related to watch time, CTR and conversion rate (if applicable).

Re: CEOs to Keep Spending on AI, Despite Spotty Returns

#48

Post by turnsout »

msdz wrote: post #43
turnsout wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having seen a lot of AI-generated ads, I'm so skeptical that AI is actually improving marketing metrics. Every time I see one of these abominations on YouTube I think "is this working for you?" With that said, I'm long-term bullish on AI. A lot of companies will over invest, just as they did during the dot-com bubble. But some of those investments will actually pay off, because this technology is not going anywhere.

Regarding your first paragraph, I've even talked with people who go out of their way to actively _avoid_ said product after encountering AI-generated advertising. So that'll probably continue to have an effect for as long as average people with good eyes can still distinguish "AI"/generative media from "real"/traditional footage.

I have observed this as well, and we've already seen some pushback when major brands use AI in their creative. I wonder if we're entering an era where AI will actually taint a brand.

Re: CEOs to Keep Spending on AI, Despite Spotty Returns

#49

Post by riku_iki »

turnsout wrote: post #21
bArray wrote: post #13

> After a year in which trillions of dollars worth of AI investments buoyed global markets and the economy, 68% of CEOs plan to spend even more on AI in 2026 They are too far in to turn back. They got into AI via fear of missing out (FOMO) and now they are too heavily invested to write it off on their balance sheet. To revert now would cause nothing but trouble. > Less than half of current AI projects had generated m…

Having seen a lot of AI-generated ads, I'm so skeptical that AI is actually improving marketing metrics. Every time I see one of these abominations on YouTube I think "is this working for you?" With that said, I'm long-term bullish on AI. A lot of companies will over invest, just as they did during the dot-com bubble. But some of those investments will actually pay off, because this technology is not going anywhere.

> Having seen a lot of AI-generated ads, I'm so skeptical that AI is actually improving marketing metrics. Every time I see one of these abominations on YouTube I think "is this working for you?"

they likely track conversions, so someone is clicking and buying.

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