Beware the AI Experimentation Trap

Earlier this month, the MIT Media Lab/Project NANDA released a new report that found that 95% of investments in gen AI have produced zero returns. The headline is just the latest to feed a wave of skepticism that AI will produce results at scale. The underwhelming launch of OpenAI’s GPT-5 has provided fodder to the view that AI’s progress is slowing. Gartner has suggested that generative AI is entering its “trough of disillusionment” era—the third step in the firm’s five-phase hype cycle framework for technological adoption.