To reduce the feeling of AI fatigue, CIOs can invest in employee learning, calm the fears of skeptical colleagues, look for quick wins and conduct risk-reward analyses to prioritize AI initiatives effectively.
AI fatigue stems from unrealistic expectations, legal obstacles and excessive vendor options, which overwhelm organizations as they attempt to adapt to AI's rapid advancement.
Unlike many technological developments, GenAI -- in the form of tools, such as ChatGPT and Gemini -- reached the public before it reached most IT departments. This unconventional rollout generated significant attention and hype, causing many business leaders to expect instant productivity gains and cost savings. However, most breakthroughs in technology take many years to drive clear, measurable ROI -- and GenAI is no exception.
"When the internet came out, it was pretty useless, because you couldn't find anything until people started to make good browsers," said Graeme Thompson, CIO at Informatica, a data management platform company.
Similarly, the early days of cloud computing saw organizations grapple with infrastructure challenges before they realized its full potential. GenAI has followed a similar path, with enterprise adoption slowed by the need for organizations to prepare their data for AI-driven insights.
As organizations explore GenAI deployment, they often encounter resistance from legal teams and oversight functions. This hesitation stems from a combination of uncertainty about how the technology works and fears about potential risks -- such as data privacy violations, intellectual property issues and compliance breaches. These challenges can stall AI initiatives and create fatigue.
"We've had a couple of instances where we've tried to deploy something and someone -- either in legal or in another oversight function -- has said 'no,' just because partly they're afraid [and] partly they don't know enough about how it works," Thompson said.
The rapid growth of the AI market has led to an overwhelming number of vendors touting GenAI capabilities. As decision-makers in large organizations receive countless pitches from these vendors, they can struggle to differentiate between genuine innovation and exaggerated claims. This constant barrage of options creates confusion and fatigue.
"Any decision maker in a large organization probably hears about another AI vendor every five minutes, right?" said Shay Levi, CEO at Unframe AI, an enterprise AI company.