(Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash)

The "AI arms race" is real. But not in the way you might think. Let me explain:

Have you ever read Robert Cialdini's book "Influence: The Power of Persuasion"? A friend gave me a copy 20+ years ago and part in particular still sticks with me. Loosely paraphrased: Good advertising gets you to react before you've had a chance to think it through.

This notion of an "AI arms race" is good advertising, indeed! Its core message – that you'll be left behind and/or devoured by the competition if you don't cram AI into everything you're building – exists to stoke the flames of Corporate FOMO™.

This drives companies to overstate their needs, then overspend on tools and hiring, all before they've had the chance to confirm that these efforts will produce any ROI.

How do you handle this, then? AI is actually useful sometimes! It will help some businesses! How do you know if it will help yours?

You want to take a step back and look at the bigger picture:

1/ If you're curious about AI, you can move at your own pace. Take the time to sort out meaningful use cases and run experiments. You don't have to jump into AI in a panic.

2/ If you don't surface any use cases, that's fine! Not every company is ready for AI yet. Congratulations on saving time, money, effort, and morale.

3/ Remember that the "left behind" threat has been lurking since the early days of data science, more than fifteen years ago. Feel free to tune it out and focus on your needs.