Yes, those subscribers do count, but the author writes of sustainability doubts in that respect, arguing that current hype and FOMO-style thinking may well fizzle out:
>I believe that a lot of businesses are "trying" AI at the moment, and once those trials end (Gartner predicts that 30% of generative AI projects will be abandoned after their proof of concepts by end of 2025), they'll likely stop paying for the extra features, or stop integrating generative AI into their companies' products.
I don't disagree it is unsustainable, I'm really trying to be more precise about whether anyone is getting value out of the tools. I'm just really skeptical that nobody is getting value.
I don't think anyone is arguing it's giving zero value, only that the total value is not keeping up with investments. Look at the recent smart-speaker bubble: people indeed use them, but not often enough for profitable activities, and so the speaker market popped. Trying to goad people into shopping with them failed.
Making AI pictures of Pee Wee Herman riding a shark blindfolded is indeed fun, but not profitable for Microsoft because it's too hardware intensive for ads to cover. I gotta make more goofy pics before the bottom falls out...
>I believe that a lot of businesses are "trying" AI at the moment, and once those trials end (Gartner predicts that 30% of generative AI projects will be abandoned after their proof of concepts by end of 2025), they'll likely stop paying for the extra features, or stop integrating generative AI into their companies' products.