Automation stagnation: why AI has failed to sweep the business world

自动化停滞:为何人工智能未能席卷商业世界

Editor's Picks from The Economist

2025-07-23

7 分钟
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A handpicked article read aloud from the latest issue of The Economist. Despite all the clamour about the AI revolution, new data suggests that businesses have been surprisingly slow on the uptake. As is often the case, humans seem to be getting in the way of automation. Listen to what matters most, from global politics and business to science and technology—subscribe to Economist Podcasts+. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our FAQs page or watch our video explaining how to link your account.
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  • Hello, this is Alok Jha, host of Babbage, our weekly podcast on science and technology.

  • Welcome to Editor's Picks.

  • We've chosen an unmissable article from the latest edition of The Economist.

  • Please do have a listen.

  • Talk to executives and before long they will rhapsodise about all the wonderful ways in which their business is using artificial intelligence.

  • Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase recently said that his bank has 450 use cases for the technology.

  • AI will become the new operating system of restaurants,

  • according to Yum Brands, which runs KFC and Taco Bell.

  • AI will play an important role in improving the traveller experience, says the owner of Booking.com.

  • In the first quarter of this year,

  • executives from 44% of S&P 500 companies discussed AI on earnings calls.

  • Whatever the executives may say, however, AI is changing business much more slowly than expected.

  • A high-quality survey from America's Census Bureau finds that a mere 10% of firms are using it in a meaningful way.

  • Enterprise Adoption has disappointed, notes a recent paper by UBS, a bank.

  • Goldman Sachs, another bank, tracks companies that, in the view of its analysts,

  • have the largest estimated potential change to baseline earnings from AI adoption.

  • In recent months, the firm's share prices have underperformed the market.

  • With its fantastic capabilities, AI represents $100 bills lying on the street.

  • Why then, are firms not picking them up?

  • Economics may provide an answer.