Thousands Of CEOs Admitted A.I. Have No Impact On Productivity & Employment

[RAMROD 117,004]

New data on how C-suite executives are—or aren’t—using AI shows history is repeating itself, complicating the similar promises economists and Big Tech founders made about the technology’s impact on the workplace and economy. Despite 374 companies in the S&P 500 mentioning AI in earnings calls—most of which said the technology’s implementation in the firm was entirely positive—according to a Financial Times analysis from September 2024 to 2025, those positive adoptions aren’t being reflected in broader productivity gains.

A study published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that among 6,000 CEOs, chief financial officers, and other executives from firms who responded to various business outlook surveys in the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Australia, the vast majority see little impact from AI on their operations. While about two-thirds of executives reported using AI, that usage amounted to only about 1.5 hours per week, and 25% of respondents reported not using AI in the workplace at all. Nearly 90% of firms said AI has had no impact on employment or productivity over the last three years, the research noted.

In 2023, MIT researchers claimed AI implementation could increase a worker’s performance by nearly 40% compared to workers who didn’t use the technology. But emerging data failing to show these promised productivity gains has led economists to wonder when—or if—AI will offer a return on corporate investments, which swelled to more than $250 billion in 2024.

Slok added that outside of the Magnificent Seven, there are “no signs of AI in profit margins or earnings expectations.”

https://fortune.com/2026/02/17/ai-productivity-paradox-ceo-study-robert-solow-information-technology-age/

[Jill 31,812]

AI is currently a bubble like the internet was in the 2000s. Executives already know this by now, because the market is so obviously saturated and their strategy is completely backwards (focusing on chatbots as the mainstay is not a good idea), and are bracing for impact.

[Guillaume Hamon 6,983]

3 hours ago, Jill said:

AI is currently a bubble like the internet was in the 2000s. Executives already know this by now, because the market is so obviously saturated and their strategy is completely backwards (focusing on chatbots as the mainstay is not a good idea), and are bracing for impact.

When it gonna blow it gonna be a massacre. 

[LGAte 804]

technology in general is not as advanced as we think it is. It’s just marketed that way. 
 

most of the time modern technology has slowed us down and no one talks about that. 
 

in 1960 they certainly didn’t wait for an ad to quit buffering so they could watch the ad so they could watch the show. 
 

also Bluetooth headphones do not sound good and never have and wired headphones still sound way better. I’ll die on that hill. 
 

ai is another example. Any millennial that had windows xp can clock when something is AI. There are some visuals that are convincing but even those are largely souped up by mixing human creation- AI has not generated something super realistic purely from scratch. A normal 35 year old can still clock it. 
 

it’s not all it’s chopped up to be. 

[Sneaky Oliver 22,972]

I wonder if this AI fever is gonna fade in the next couple of years, I’ve read about how social media might fade but I think AI will disappear first (hopefully so)

Those companies have been calling whatever function their site or app does AI… like this is an old function, it’s just that we write a prompt instead of doing the function manually but it’s sold like it’s AI to make it look greater than it actually is

[Economy 52,842]

29 minutes ago, Sneaky Oliver said:

I wonder if this AI fever is gonna fade in the next couple of years, I’ve read about how social media might fade but I think AI will disappear first (hopefully so)

Those companies have been calling whatever function their site or app does AI… like this is an old function, it’s just that we write a prompt instead of doing the function manually but it’s sold like it’s AI to make it look greater than it actually is

I dont think so. The technology can still do a lot and once things like this come, they stay

 

I just think the hype has gotten ahead of itself and a lot of tasks ai is still more limited in what it can do than maybe some perceive. Its still quite stupid in many aspects

 

It will still be a disrupter, but the rate of adoption and hype may just simply slow down after this innital burst.

 

OT: We dont really use AI at my company either other than maybe the odd executive using it as a tool for side tasks, research or reports and were a multi billion company. Theres just nothing AI is capable of at time time that can really displace a person with anything more than as a side tool

[Addison Rae 18,080]

the use of double hyphens in the OP about an article criticising AI… 

[Lord Mayhem 3,415]

We're being warned by several AI companies and THEIR CEO's, Founders, and other top leaders that AGI is coming withing the next year...these CEO's are tripping 

[Jill 31,812]

6 hours ago, Economy said:

I dont think so. The technology can still do a lot and once things like this come, they stay

I just think the hype has gotten ahead of itself and a lot of tasks ai is still more limited in what it can do than maybe some perceive. Its still quite stupid in many aspects

It will still be a disrupter, but the rate of adoption and hype may just simply slow down after this innital burst.

OT: We dont really use AI at my company either other than maybe the odd executive using it as a tool for side tasks, research or reports and were a multi billion company. Theres just nothing AI is capable of at time time that can really displace a person with anything more than as a side tool

Yes, as I've already mentioned in another post, the economic implications of AI are real and are already being used and integrated. AI is more than just a chatbot, and is not going to disappear even if the bubble bursts, in the same way that the internet didn't disappear after the dot-com bubble. Those who think otherwise are engaging in wishful and unrealistic thinking.