I'm watching closely, and I have yet to see any implementation of AI coming out of Silicon Valley or Big Tech that smartly addresses a true user* need. So far what I've seen is is 80% hype, 15% panicked flailing to add AI to every feature, layer, and page of their platforms, 5% novelty gag with unreliable output, and 0% problem solving. I'm as eager to see AI work to our real benefit as anyone, but so far every time I use one of these tools I feel like I just walked out of a Spencer Gifts in the '90s — fun for a brief diversion at the mall, but that's about it. (*Unless of course one considers the shareholder the core "user." In which case a) bingo, and b) you've landed smack on the stark truth that drives our attention-extraction-surveillance economy: If you're getting the product for free, you are the product.)
I just left Google last month. The "AI Projects" I was working on were poorly motivated and driven by this panic that as long as it had "AI" in it, it would be great. This myopia is NOT something driven by a user need. It is a stone cold panic that they are getting left behind. The vision is that there will be a Tony Stark like Jarvis assistant in your phone that locks you into their ecosystem so hard that you'll never leave. That vision is pure catnip. The fear is that they can't afford to let someone else get there first. This exact thing happened 13 years ago with Google+ (I was there for that fiasco as well). That was a similar reaction but to Facebook. BTW, Apple is no different. They too are trying to create this AI lock-in with Siri. When the emperor, eventually, has no clothes, they'll be lapped by someone thinking bigger. I'm not a luddite, there *is* some value to this new technology. It's just not well motivated. Edit: Well, this has blown up. To be very clear, I wasn't a senior leader at Google, my projects were fairly limited. My comment comes more from a general frustration of the entire industry and it's approach to AI
Vice President of Design & UX, Film Director
3mo100%. Let us (UXers) COOK!