4 ms·

The claim that big US companies “cannot explain the upsides” of AI is misleading. Large firms are cautious in regulatory filings because they must disclose risk

by nelox 1y ago

The claim that big US companies “cannot explain the upsides” of AI is misleading. Large firms are cautious in regulatory filings because they must disclose risks, not hype. SEC rules force them to emphasise legal and security issues, so those filings naturally look defensive. Earnings calls, on the other hand, are overwhelmingly positive about AI. The suggestion that companies only adopt AI out of fear of missing out ignores the concrete examples already in place. Huntington Ingalls is using AI in battlefield decision tools, Zoetis in veterinary diagnostics, Caterpillar in energy systems, and Freeport-McMoran in mineral extraction. These are significant operational changes. It is also wrong to frame limited stock outperformance as proof that AI has no benefit. Stock prices reflect broader market conditions, not just adoption of a single technology. Early deployments rarely transform earnings instantly. The internet looked commercially underwhelming in the mid-1990s too, before business models matured. The article confuses the immaturity of current generative AI pilots with the broader potential of applied AI. Failures of workplace pilots usually result from integration challenges, not because the technology lacks value. The fact that 374 S&P 500 companies are openly discussing it shows the opposite of “no clear upside” — it shows wide strategic interest.

julkali 1y ago
The issue is that the examples you listed mostly rely on very specific machine learning tools (which are very much relevant and good use of this tech), while the term "AI" in layman terms is usually synonymous for LLMs. Mentioning the mid-1990s' internet boom is somewhat ironic imo, given what happened next. The question is whether "business models mature" with or without a market crash, given that the vast majority of ML money is provided for LLM efforts.
- comp_throw7 1y ago
  (You're responding to an LLM-generated comment, btw.)
  - nelox 1y ago
    The comment was definitely not LLM generated. However, I certainly did use search for help in sourcing information for it. Some of those searches offered AI generated results, which I cross-referenced, before using to write the comment myself. That in no way is the same as “an LLM-generated comment”.
    - dnissley 1y ago
      It's popular now to level these accusations at text that contains emdashes.
      - fzzzy 1y ago
        An llm would “know” not to put spaces around an em dash. An en dash should have spaces.
        jdiff 1y ago
        I've actually seen LLMs put spaces around em dashes more often than not lately. I've made accusations of humanity only to find that the comment I was replying to was wholly generated. And I asked, there was no explicit instruction to misuse the em dashes to enhance apparent humanity.
    - lossolo 1y ago
      The use of “ instead of ", two different types of hyphens/dash, specific wording and sentence construction are clear signs that the whole comment was produced by chatGPT. How much of it was actually yours (people sometimes just want LLM to rewrite their thoughts), we will never know but it's an output of an LLM.
      - nelox 1y ago
        Well, I use an iPhone and “ is default on my keyboard. Tell me, why should I not use a hyphen for hyphenated words? I was schooled is British English where the spaced endash - is preferred. Shall I go on?
  - fragmede 1y ago
    and you're responding to a comment where the LLM has been instructed to not to use emdashes. And I'm responding to a comment that was generated by an LLM that was instructed to complain about LLM generated content with a single sentence. At the end of the day, we're all stoichastic parrots. How about you respond to the substance of the comment and not whether or not there was an emdash. Unless you have no substance.
    - comp_throw7 1y ago
      Posting (unmarked) LLM-generated content on public discussion forums is polluting the commons. If I want an LLM's opinion on a topic, I can go get one (or five) for free, instantly. The reason I read the writing of other people is the chance that there's something interesting there, some non-obvious perspective or personal experience that I can't just press a button to access. Acting as a pipeline between LLMs and the public sphere destroys that signal.
      - fragmede 1y ago
        Have you ever listened to a bad interview? Like, really bad? Conversely, have you ever listened to a really good interview? Maybe even one of the same subject? The phrase "prompt engineering" is a bit much, but there's still some skill to it. We know this is true, because every thread there's people saying "it doesn't work for me!" while others are saying it's the second coming. So maybe while it makes you feel smart because you're a stoichastic parrot that can repeat LLM generated!111 like you're a model with a million parameters, every time you see an emdash, it's a lazy dismissal and tramples curiosity.
        comp_throw7 1y ago
        I have no idea what you think you're responding to. I use LLMs frequently in both professional and personal contexts and find them extremely useful. I am making a different, more specific claim than the thing you think I am saying. I recommend reading my comment more carefully.
Frieren 1y ago
> Huntington Ingalls is using AI in battlefield decision tools, Zoetis in veterinary diagnostics, Caterpillar in energy systems, and Freeport-McMoran in mineral extraction. But most AI push is for LLMs, and all the companies you talk about seem to be using other types of AI. > Failures of workplace pilots usually result from integration challenges, not because the technology lacks value. Bold claim. Toxic positivism seems to be too common in AI evangelists. > The fact that 374 S&P 500 companies are openly discussing it shows the opposite of “no clear upside” — it shows wide strategic interest. If the financial crisis taught me something is that if a company jumps of a bridge the rest will follow. Assuming that there must be some real value because capitalism is missing the main proposition of capitalism, companies will take stupid decisions and pay the price for it.
rsynnott 1y ago
> The fact that 374 S&P 500 companies are openly discussing it shows the opposite of “no clear upside” — it shows wide strategic interest. There was a weird moment in the late noughties where seemingly every big consumer company was creating a presence in Second Life. There was clearly a lot of strategic interest... Second Life usage peaked in 2009 and never recovered, though it remains somewhat popular amongst furries. Bizarrely, this kind of happened _again_ with the very similar "metaverse" stuff a decade or so later, though it burned out somewhat quicker and never hit the same levels of farcical nonsense; I don't think any actual _countries_ opened embassies in "the metaverse", say (https://www.reuters.com/article/technology/sweden-first-to-open-embassy-in-second-life-idUSL30348893/ https://www.reuters.com/article/technology/sweden-first-to-o...).

by nelox 1y ago

julkali 1y ago

The issue is that the examples you listed mostly rely on very specific machine learning tools (which are very much relevant and good use of this tech), while the term "AI" in layman terms is usually synonymous for LLMs. Mentioning the mid-1990s' internet boom is somewhat ironic imo, given what happened next. The question is whether "business models mature" with or without a market crash, given that the vast majority of ML money is provided for LLM efforts.

comp_throw7 1y ago
(You're responding to an LLM-generated comment, btw.)
- nelox 1y ago
  The comment was definitely not LLM generated. However, I certainly did use search for help in sourcing information for it. Some of those searches offered AI generated results, which I cross-referenced, before using to write the comment myself. That in no way is the same as “an LLM-generated comment”.
  - dnissley 1y ago
    It's popular now to level these accusations at text that contains emdashes.
    - fzzzy 1y ago
      An llm would “know” not to put spaces around an em dash. An en dash should have spaces.
      - jdiff 1y ago
        I've actually seen LLMs put spaces around em dashes more often than not lately. I've made accusations of humanity only to find that the comment I was replying to was wholly generated. And I asked, there was no explicit instruction to misuse the em dashes to enhance apparent humanity.
  - lossolo 1y ago
    The use of “ instead of ", two different types of hyphens/dash, specific wording and sentence construction are clear signs that the whole comment was produced by chatGPT. How much of it was actually yours (people sometimes just want LLM to rewrite their thoughts), we will never know but it's an output of an LLM.
    - nelox 1y ago
      Well, I use an iPhone and “ is default on my keyboard. Tell me, why should I not use a hyphen for hyphenated words? I was schooled is British English where the spaced endash - is preferred. Shall I go on?
- fragmede 1y ago
  and you're responding to a comment where the LLM has been instructed to not to use emdashes. And I'm responding to a comment that was generated by an LLM that was instructed to complain about LLM generated content with a single sentence. At the end of the day, we're all stoichastic parrots. How about you respond to the substance of the comment and not whether or not there was an emdash. Unless you have no substance.
  - comp_throw7 1y ago
    Posting (unmarked) LLM-generated content on public discussion forums is polluting the commons. If I want an LLM's opinion on a topic, I can go get one (or five) for free, instantly. The reason I read the writing of other people is the chance that there's something interesting there, some non-obvious perspective or personal experience that I can't just press a button to access. Acting as a pipeline between LLMs and the public sphere destroys that signal.
    - fragmede 1y ago
      Have you ever listened to a bad interview? Like, really bad? Conversely, have you ever listened to a really good interview? Maybe even one of the same subject? The phrase "prompt engineering" is a bit much, but there's still some skill to it. We know this is true, because every thread there's people saying "it doesn't work for me!" while others are saying it's the second coming. So maybe while it makes you feel smart because you're a stoichastic parrot that can repeat LLM generated!111 like you're a model with a million parameters, every time you see an emdash, it's a lazy dismissal and tramples curiosity.
      - comp_throw7 1y ago
        I have no idea what you think you're responding to. I use LLMs frequently in both professional and personal contexts and find them extremely useful. I am making a different, more specific claim than the thing you think I am saying. I recommend reading my comment more carefully.

Frieren 1y ago

> Huntington Ingalls is using AI in battlefield decision tools, Zoetis in veterinary diagnostics, Caterpillar in energy systems, and Freeport-McMoran in mineral extraction. But most AI push is for LLMs, and all the companies you talk about seem to be using other types of AI. > Failures of workplace pilots usually result from integration challenges, not because the technology lacks value. Bold claim. Toxic positivism seems to be too common in AI evangelists. > The fact that 374 S&P 500 companies are openly discussing it shows the opposite of “no clear upside” — it shows wide strategic interest. If the financial crisis taught me something is that if a company jumps of a bridge the rest will follow. Assuming that there must be some real value because capitalism is missing the main proposition of capitalism, companies will take stupid decisions and pay the price for it.

rsynnott 1y ago

> The fact that 374 S&P 500 companies are openly discussing it shows the opposite of “no clear upside” — it shows wide strategic interest. There was a weird moment in the late noughties where seemingly every big consumer company was creating a presence in Second Life. There was clearly a lot of strategic interest... Second Life usage peaked in 2009 and never recovered, though it remains somewhat popular amongst furries. Bizarrely, this kind of happened _again_ with the very similar "metaverse" stuff a decade or so later, though it burned out somewhat quicker and never hit the same levels of farcical nonsense; I don't think any actual _countries_ opened embassies in "the metaverse", say (https://www.reuters.com/article/technology/sweden-first-to-open-embassy-in-second-life-idUSL30348893/ https://www.reuters.com/article/technology/sweden-first-to-o...).