Goldman Sachs puts a $1 trillion question mark over Generative AI

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has become the latest buzzword across industries and businesses. Most agree that it is going to revolutionise businesses. Yet serious questions hang over its uses and impact. A KPMG survey in the US found executives expect Generative AI to have an enormous impact on business, but most say they are unprepared for immediate adoption.

Now a Goldman Sachs report has raised questions over the use of generative AI in business. Tech giants and beyond are set to spend over $1 trillion on AI capex in coming years, with so far little to show for it, the report says. It questions if this large spend will ever pay off? In the report, many experts have expressed doubts over any revolutionary impact of AI in the short term. A few other experts are more optimistic about AI’s economic potential and its ability to ultimately generate returns beyond what they call the current “picks and shovels” phase when AI’s “killer application” hasn’t emerged. “But despite these concerns and constraints, we still see room for the AI theme to run, either because AI starts to deliver on its promise, or because bubbles take a long time to burst,” says the report.