Oh, Snap!

When Goldman Sachs, the, "Great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money, says that there is no money in it for them, there is no money in it for anyone.

Now Goldman Sachs is saying that there is no "there" there about artificial intelligence.

Given their predilections, as so eloquently stated early in cephalopod terms, this means that they don't even think that there is the opportunity to cheat the rubes out of their pocket change:

A week and a half ago, Goldman Sachs put out a 31-page-report (titled "Gen AI: Too Much Spend, Too Little Benefit?”) that includes some of the most damning literature on generative AI I've ever seen. And yes, that sound you hear is the slow deflation of the bubble I've been warning you about since March.

The report covers AI's productivity benefits (which Goldman remarks are likely limited), AI's returns (which are likely to be significantly more limited than anticipated), and AI's power demands (which are likely so significant that utility companies will have to spend nearly 40% more in the next three years to keep up with the demand from hyperscalers like Google and Microsoft).

This report is so significant because Goldman Sachs, like any investment bank, does not care about anyone's feelings unless doing so is profitable. It will gladly hype anything if it thinks it'll make a buck. Back in May, it was claimed that AI (not just generative AI) was "showing very positive signs of eventually boosting GDP and productivity," even though said report buried within it constant reminders that AI had yet to impact productivity growth, and states that only about 5% of companies report using generative AI in regular production.

(emphasis original) 

………

The reason I so agonizingly picked apart [go and read the original, the deep dive is informative and fun to read] this report is that if Goldman Sachs is saying this, things are very, very bad. It also directly attacks the specific hype-tactics of AI fanatics — the sense that generative AI will create new jobs (it hasn't in 18 months), the sense that costs will come down (they're haven’t, and there doesn't seem to be a path to them doing so in a way that matters), and that there's incredible demand for these products (there isn't, and there's no path to it existing).

This reminds me so much of the, "We lose money on every sale, but make it up in volume," era at the height of the dotcom boom.

Lots of people made lots of money for sh%$ that never had the remote prospect of working as a business, but the rest of us paid for that, and paid for that, and paid for that ………