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The End of the Generative Artificial-Intelligence Bubble
The End of Investors’ Generative AI Honeymoon
Will Generative AI Really Pay Off?
Generative AI Seed Funding Drops 76% As Investors Take A Wait-and-See Approach
Is Generative AI Worth the Investment?

These are all headlines from the last several weeks suggesting, as Gartner believes, that generative AI has arrived at the trough of disillusionment (the low point in Gartner’s technology hype cycle).  This skepticism can be attributed to the fact that there haven’t been any breakthrough products that have produced huge revenues. Instead of companies making big investments in AI, individual employees are using free or low-cost tools independently.

While those enterprise tools are undoubtedly coming, employees using ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Copilot are seeing big gains in productivity and even creativity. A new report from Microsoft — which looks at Copilot use by 6,000 employees in more than 60 organizations — reinforces this view. In this midweek episode, Neville and Shel dig into the report, along with a Washington Post study that ranks how individuals are using generative AI.

Links from this episode:

• Generative AI in Real-World Workplaces (Microsoft report)
• What do people really ask chatbots? It’s a lot of sex and homework

The next monthly, long-form episode of FIR will drop on Monday, August 26.

We host a Communicators Zoom Chat most Thursdays at 1 p.m. ET. To obtain the credentials needed to participate, contact Shel or Neville directly, request them in our Facebook group, or email fircomments@gmail.com.

Special thanks to Jay Moonah for the opening and closing music.

You can find the stories from which Shel’s FIR content is selected at Shel’s Link Blog. Shel has started a metaverse-focused Flipboard magazine. You can catch up with both co-hosts on Neville’s blog and Shel’s blog.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this podcast are Shel’s and Neville’s and do not reflect the views of their employers and/or clients.

About Shel Holtz

Shel Holtz, SCMP, ABC, IABC Fellow, is senior director of Communications at Webcor, a commercial general contractor headquartered in San Francisco. Before joining Webcor, Shel spent 21 years as principal of Holtz Communication + Technology. In addition to integrating technology into communications strategies, his expertise includes strategic communications planning, change management, organizational culture, business initiatives and communications research. Full bio

About Neville Hobson

Neville Hobson is a communicator, social strategist, consultant, digital change agent, writer, and podcaster. He is co-founder and co-host of the 'For Immediate Release' podcast. Since 2000, his career has focused on working with organisations globally to help them leverage his experiences, knowledge and subject-matter expertise of social networks, social media marketing, analytics and insights reporting, to create and build foundations for authentic engagement and to expand online reach and influence. Full bio