Nah, it's a statistical artifact of the survey methodology, but interesting nonetheless.
From Big Technology, October 31:
A new Wharton study finds two thirds of businesses are actually seeing a positive ROI from generative AI. Is it a watershed moment?
For months now, AI watchers have been citing an MIT study that found 95% of businesses weren’t seeing an ROI from their generative AI spend. The study’s popularity seemed to confirm what many close to the technology felt to be true: It was difficult to implement, often unreliable, and disruptive enough to upend business processes and make things a mess.
These concerns may all be legitimate, but a new study from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School complicates the narrative. The study found that 74% of businesses that measure the ROI from their generative AI efforts are already seeing a positive return, and more expect to see a positive ROI within the next two or three years.
“These results are more positive than I was expecting,” Wharton professor Stefano Puntoni, a study author, told me in a phone call this week. “People are finding this technology is powerful. So it’s not just hype.”
The Wharton study’s more positive findings stem, in part, from the broader set of use cases it considered. Where the MIT study looked at whether generative AI pilots made it into production and delivered a profit, Wharton’s incorporated a range of uses, including individual productivity, employee retention, and operational efficiency.
“Our definition is very different from the MIT report,” said Puntoni. “Theirs is much more stringent.”
The Wharton study doesn’t immediately refute the MIT report, but it does suggest that the tech industry’s rollout of generative AI won’t fit into a simple story. It’s yet another data point among many about a nascent technology’s viability. And even with its more positive results, it shows anything but a smooth and uniform rollout.
The Wharton report, for instance, shows jagged adoption of the technology, with some industries showing much greater enthusiasm for generative AI than others. Eighty-eight percent of respondents in tech and telecom said they were seeing at least a moderately positive ROI from generative AI technology, for instance, and 83% in banking and finance said the same. In retail, only 54% of respondents said they were seeing a positive ROI so far....
....MUCH MORE
