I’m in IT at an upper level and know painfully well what “AI” really is and that it’s not the disruptor people think it will be. However I feel like I can’t post it anywhere without being judged about it as almost every exec I know has bought into it hook, line and sinker. Even other people I talk to about the issues and limitations look at me like I’m completely weird “you’re in IT and you don’t embrace AI? wtf is wrong with you?”
So what do you all do? I don’t want to make things career limiting but I feel like I’m screaming in the dark seeing where things will really go. It reminds me a lot of the move to cloud and everyone going all in on it without knowing the real ramifications.
I work in IT and we have to go through a whole process to get a licence to use it, so I’ve just not done that. Other people on my team have, it’s a ticking time bomb and I’m just sitting here watching them all ignore the obvious signs.
Just last week someone was complaining about the AI randomly adding files to our code, and when I mentioned yeah these AI keep deleting customer data and stuff, they just brushed it off. We’re in an industry that’s super regulated so this is gonna end with legal action I’m sure. I’ve also watched people use AI to automate basic tasks, and when I’ve reviewed what they’ve done it’s all completely wrong, to that point that if the wrong person sees it, we get a full audit and the entire team is placed under constant supervision with a lot of our access heavily restricted for months.
Meanwhile I’m just sitting here doing more and doing it better without AI. It’s not worth pushing back because I already cop enough flak for stuff other people do or don’t do. I hope the company gets destroyed in a massive lawsuit, it won’t, but god it would be awesome.
If you’re in a tightly regulated industry, take DETAILED notes and store them off-site for when the lawsuits inevitably hit and they go hunting for someone to pin the blame on. Make sure that it’s clear that a) you didn’t use the stuff that breached regulation, and b) you know who did.