[Guest post by our Founder and CIO, Matt Pogue]
It's nearly impossible to watch the news - much less browse the web and social media - without being bombarded by stories and predictions about Artificial Intelligence (AI). And if the story isn't about AI, there's a better than average chance it was written by AI. The modern Google and Facebook-centric web thrives on content - social media posts, images, music, videos - the more the better regardless of quality, much of it now being generated by AI. On top of all that, it seems like every company is rushing to add an "AI Chatbot", "AI Support", or even a random button with the letters "AI", to their website for fear of being left behind in the gold rush. AI is a powerful new technology and it's already made some amazing things possible that weren't before. There are also downsides - massive energy requirements, the use of copyrighted and non-free sources of training data, students using it as a substitute for learning, and more.
That said, if you're searching the Kyloson app and website for our AI button, we hope you won't be too disappointed that we don't have one. No chatbots, no email assistants, heck, we even write our own social media posts and website content (including this post). That doesn't mean we don't use AI. For software developers like me it's a powerful tool. The purpose of all tools, electronic or otherwise is to allow humans to maximize our potential. That's how we view AI - as another tool in the toolbox - but just because something is a valuable tool doesn't mean it's useful in every situation. AI brings with it large and sometimes unpredictable costs, as well as consuming massive amounts of compute resources which themselves aren't free. We offer our customers a powerful - and always expanding - suite of tools for analyzing their data, and right now, the benefits of AI for us don't outweigh its costs.
At Kyloson, we're not "anti-AI" anymore than we're anti-diesel engines. We're always looking for new ways to innovate in how we serve our customers. There will very likely be a day when AI becomes a part of our offering, but until then, we're not going to implement a technology just because everyone else is.
I always welcome your feedback! Feel free to email me directly - mattp@kyloson.com - with comments or suggestions.
Ready to find out what Kyloson Tech can do for YOUR business? Contact our sales team: sales@kyloson.com or 314.500.3194.