Current AI uptake has more in common with the U2 iTunes debacle than genuine adoption. Presence is not the same as value.
In 2014, Apple pushed U2’s album directly into 500 million iTunes libraries without consent. Downloads soared. By every metric of distribution, it was a historic success. By every metric of reception, it was a disaster.
Current AI spread seems more a triumph of marketing, puffery and leverage than actual intelligence. Most enterprise AI deployment isn’t happening because a CTO evaluated it and found it transformative. Private users are not seeking the tech and might not even be aware it has been injected into their device.
Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and anyone else who wants to play, all are burning capital at rates that require narrative momentum to sustain valuation. So we are being forced into friction-free adoption of something which might not even be ready for prime time. Even those who might want such services can’t be sure they are getting the strong technology they need.
That’s not adoption driven by intelligence. That’s adoption driven by distribution muscle and procurement inertia over product conviction. Counting seats and suggesting the model must be proportionally better accordingly, a distribution story dressed as an intelligence story.
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