Beyond the Buzzwords: AI’s Reality Check

We live in an era where “data is the new gold” and “Data Scientist is the Sexiest Job of the 21st Century.” Artificial intelligence is hailed as the ultimate game-changer – Yet, on the ground, the reality is different: AI projects stall, expectations remain unmet, and data professionals find themselves selling the dream while little changes. Over 18 months of fieldwork, my research takes you inside six UK organisations to uncover the hidden battles of AI implementation, where promises meet unmet expectations, authority is contested, and technical expertise alone isn’t enough to drive change.

According to some measures, AI can now write better jokes, make better art, and come up with more ideas for new products than most of us could ever aspire to. So what is left for us mere mortals? Plenty. Used with imagination the new tools of generative AI can help us to deliver a mind-boggling array of new ideas. And creative thinking is not just about having new ideas but also about choosing which are the best, most unusual, most useful and most exciting. The human is far from being redundant in the creative loop.