Chief information officers know generative AI isn’t the right tool for every tech problem. But lately some are having to throw a wet blanket on the enthusiasm of chief executives and boards intoxicated by the technology’s promise. “There are situations where we have to temper the perception that we should be doing more and more with GenAI,” Sridhar Sharma, CIO of nonbank mortgage servicer and originator Mr. Cooper, said of his frequent dialogues with the CEO and other C-suite colleagues on AI and generative AI. Since the debut of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in November 2022, generative AI—a form of AI that uses prompts to generate text and other content—has captivated corporate boardrooms and Wall Street, catapulting AI chip maker Nvidia to a trillion-dollar valuation. Companies that mention generative AI in their earnings reports have seen bumps in their stock prices, fueling a race among firms to position themselves as front-runners in adopting the technology. But as a result, some CIOs say they are aware of pressure to shoehorn the technology into areas best addressed by either older forms of predictive AI, or even something as simple as a spreadsheet. “Generative AI is not a silver bullet for every single use case,” Sharma said. “In fact, in some cases it’s not as effective, and sometimes it’s dangerous.” Engineering generative AI solutions can be more complex, more expensive and more prone to hallucinations than other forms of AI, he added.

Full commentary : CIOs say they feel pressure to shoehorn the tech into areas better served by other forms of predictive AI—or perhaps just a spreadsheet.