The disillusionment of entrepreneurial dreams

Entrepreneurs are enthusiastic about AI and are exploring the possibilities. They sign up for free trials, play around, and see how they can save time and money with the various tools that are now available.

After falling for the fancy squeeze pages, believing the testimonials and having their minds blown by the possibility, the bar has been set very high. They expect each tool to revolutionize their business. They believe that with just a few clicks they will have ready-to-use headlines, images and articles, a mountain of content they would be proud to associate their name with and a clear path to outperforming all of their competitors.

Then reality hits and those high expectations fall apart.

How did it all start?

When ChatGPT was released in November 2022, it opened the eyes of entrepreneurs all over the world. The technology had seemingly progressed to the point where they could now see how AI could directly impact their business. With this first phase came shock, awe, and then excitement. The promise was huge and they couldn’t wait to get started.

This newfound accessibility led to more experimentation. Entrepreneurs weren’t just testing the tools, they were building them. In the spring of 2023, there were platforms for every need, as opportunists, developers and creators quickly turned around and tried to take over land.

AI masterminds popped up, conversations filled LinkedIn and Reddit, and downloads, seminars, and courses became available en masse. Soon, artificial intelligence was the latest shiny object.

But what makes it so attractive? Why are we all so eager to explore it further and does it live up to its promise?

The promise of artificial intelligence

At first glance, the promise of artificial intelligence is huge. “I could use all these tools to run my business processes”, thinks the entrepreneur who sees the potential. When they hear case studies of what AI has done for their peers, they look for tools to do everything they do, save time and make more money with less effort.

The promise of AI is that there are gains to be had in all areas of the business, whether that be replacing team members, improving the quality of output or simply producing more.

If you’re considering a leaner and more profitable company, you’ll understand the appeal of this AI realm. If running your business feels like a struggle and you work all day long, why not try reaping the benefits promised by artificially intelligent assistance?

The disillusionment of AI

In reality, the truth is vastly different from the expectation. Companies looking to use the tools in their day-to-day business are shocked when they aren’t nearly as good as they thought they would be. Instead of pressing a few keys and having tons of publishable content, flawless images and perfectly realistic shots, getting quality output takes work. Work they weren’t sure they signed up for.

Entrepreneurs using AI are finding that additional time and effort is needed to overcome current limitations. Content written by Chat GPT and other language tools often requires a lot of editing, so much so that it might have been faster to write it from scratch. It’s not just copying; AI-generated images still need to be photoshopped and fact-checked with additional research.

For every action there is a reaction. Responses include concerns about Google sanctions, team members running out of line, incorrect information appearing in articles, and questions about intellectual property and plagiarism that no one knows how to answer. The initial belief that “I can do more with less money and time” feels like it slips away with every experiment.

At some point, the frustrated entrepreneur will declare AI bankrupt. They stop trying, cancel their subscription and consider it all a fad. After wasting hours and being disappointed several times, they go back to the manual way they used to do things.

What’s in the expectation gap?

The hype around what AI can do for businesses creates unrealistic expectations for business owners. The tools they test sell the dream well, but can even trigger living nightmares. The compressed pages and glowing testimonials show best-case scenarios, from expertly programmed use, and getting those results doesn’t happen overnight. Potential users are sold on the gold standard of what these platforms can do.

The truth lies somewhere in the middle. The AI ​​tool can probably do everything it promises, but only if properly asked by people who know what they are doing.

After hype, inexperience is the second element of the expectation gap. Most entrepreneurs do not understand how to use AI to achieve the desired results. They don’t know how to use prompts effectively; they don’t know how to feed the machines. They are not willing to put in the hours it takes to produce customer-ready results because they want those quick wins they feel they owe.

Imagine a lawsuit between a business owner and Chat GPT to decide who was to blame for a poorly written article. The business owner would say that the AI ​​did a poor job. Chat GPT would say it made the most of the input. Garbage in, garbage out, as the saying goes. Bad prompts lead to questionable results, and it’s rarely the engine’s only fault.

The final factor in the expectation gap is time. Over time, entrepreneurs get better at modeling and controlling what they produce. Over time, they learn from mistakes and improve. You wouldn’t take a puppy home and send him back if he didn’t roll over on demand right away, you would expect his training to take a while and you would persevere with the practice. Think about this the same way.

What will happen with AI?

Artificial intelligence is only getting better. Every update of every tool comes with improvements that are passed on to users. Entrepreneurs become more familiar with the use of technology; we become better robot trainers. We conceptualize differently, to work in harmony with AI, we begin to think in terms of clues and we understand cause and effect on new levels. The gap between expectation and reality is narrowing now that we know what is required of us.

Before this happens, many people will have given up. After wasting and stabbing time and money, they develop a case of AI skepticism and turn a blind eye to progress. They believe that every new thing will be the same as the previous one, a lot of hype followed by a huge disappointment. They miss out on the benefits because they were impatient with what lay ahead.

In business and in AI, those who play the long game prevail. The big results don’t come to the people who dip their toes in the water for the quick wins, but to the people who show endurance. Those who get stuck, stay curious, learn all there is to learn, and commit to testing, iterating, and advancing the technology will have an edge within weeks.

If that sounds like you, keep going. The more you practice, the better your results will be. The more you tinker with tools, the better you learn how to turn input into output. When everyone else has given up, you’re there, building your foundations and magnifying those incremental gains in a big way.