Separating hype from reality has always been difficult in the tech industry. As technology evolves, vendors ranging from startups to industry titans launch new products to both stoke and meet demand. Terminology typically differs from product to product, making it difficult to compare solutions. Organizations sometimes deploy promising new products only to find that they don’t meet their expectations.
The rapid ascent of AI has made it particularly difficult to evaluate AI solutions. How can organizations spot an AI solution that doesn’t live up to the vendor’s claims? Here are six red flags to look for.
AI Red Flag No. 1: Vague Claims
Vendors are integrating features they call AI into a wide range of products. Unfortunately, some vendors are engaging in “AI washing” — claiming their products are AI-enabled when they really aren’t. The problem is so acute that the FTC recently issued a warning to companies about making false or unsubstantiated claims. If the vendor claims that the product is “AI powered” without offering any details about what it can really do, that’s a huge red flag.
AI Red Flag No. 2: Limited Scalability
AI systems are notoriously difficult to scale. Building and training an AI model is expensive, time-consuming and labor-intensive, with no guarantee of success. It requires expertise that few organizations have and can scarcely find in the marketplace. Training requires an immense amount of high-quality data to be effective. However, AI must be able to scale to support larger and more complex algorithms and data models while maintaining performance and manageability. If it cannot, organizations will be unable to recoup their investment.
AI Red Flag No. 3: Lack of Support
Using publicly available cloud-based AI solutions such as ChatGPT is straightforward. However, the real value of AI lies with more complex products that can streamline and automate key business processes. These solutions come with a steep learning curve, making it difficult to capitalize on their benefits. If the vendor does not offer effective, responsive support, organizations won’t be able to take full advantage of the AI product. Unfortunately, some AI startups and smaller vendors don’t have a strong tech support infrastructure.
AI Red Flag No. 4: Hidden Costs
You get what you pay for — or do you? The price tag of an AI solution is often a small fraction of the overall cost. Complex implementation and integration and IT infrastructure upgrades can add significant costs to an AI project. In addition, many organizations will have to cleanse and prepare their data to support AI, and improve the efficiency of their data pipelines. AI model maintenance can also add to the total cost of ownership. These costs must be factored into the AI project in order to calculate return on investment.
Red Flag No. 5: Regulatory Compliance Issues
A growing number of laws and regulations govern the development and use of AI. AI-powered systems must collect data in an ethical manner and should not generate outputs that are deceptive or discriminatory. However, some AI products were not developed with compliance in mind. Organizations should be wary of products that don’t spell out the standards followed during development and training.
Red Flag No. 6: Lack of Data Privacy Transparency
A related concern is a lack of transparency when it comes to data privacy. Not all vendors adhere to data privacy and protection laws when collecting and using data to train their models. Users should be clearly informed about how their personal information is collected, stored and used. Vendors that don’t spell out their data practices could create risks for organizations using their products.
How Cerium Can Help
Cerium has built a practice dedicated to helping organizations deploy AI with Data Security & Governance top of mind while ensuring a “Responsible AI” that aligns with our customers’ requirements. Our team has deep expertise in the evaluation of AI solutions, the development of proofs of concept, and full-scale AI rollouts. Let us help you avoid these six red flags and select the right AI solution for your requirements.
