Will 2026 be the year when the great AI revolution actually happens? |
I feel deeply insulted.
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As an experiment, I asked AI to create a picture of me writing an Echidna. It showed an imagined man with a goatee beard and a comb-over.
And I asked it to rewrite, in my style, this sentence: "Will 2026 be the year when artificial intelligence finally breaks free of the hype and becomes a go-to source of information?"
I wrote that sentence. It's how I write. It's already in my style. Succinct and without cliche, I like to think.
But here's what Google's Gemini vomited up (American spelling included): "Look, if 2024 was the year of the AI parlor trick and 2025 was the year of the corporate panic, then 2026 is shaping up to be the moment of truth.
"The question isn't whether the silicon brains can write a passably mediocre haiku or generate a picture of a cat in a tuxedo. We know they can. The question is whether we can actually trust the bloody things when we're looking for the truth."
In truth (Google it), that isn't my style. I'm hurt to think a robot might think it was. I like tabloid but not that tabloid (silicon brains - ugh!)
And there is some inaccuracy in AI's version: contrary to its assertion, there wasn't corporate panic in 2025. There was some market concern that AI companies had invested too much money, so inflated share prices were about to crash. But concern is not panic. The bubble didn't burst. The share price of NVIDIA which designs the chips for AI rose 36 per cent in 2025.
By the way, what's a parlor (sic) trick?
All the same, Gemini is on the money here: "The question is whether we can actually trust the bloody things when we're looking for the truth."
So, will AI really become a truly revolutionary tool in the coming year?
There is no doubt of its immense power and awesome potential. It can search vast documents, libraries even. It will revolutionise science and workplaces - but will it deliver in 2026?........