Don’t believe the GenAI hype – learn from it

When is a hype bubble more than just a bubble? When it becomes a mass, real-time learning event.

New research published in the Academy of Management Journal — one of the world’s most selective management journals — by Professor Anna Brattstrom of the University of St Andrews Business School, and Hassan Hamadi, a PhD student at Lund University, aimed to understand the hype around generative AI.

The team looked at 200,000 X posts from the first five months after ChatGPT launched, gathering and analysing reactions to the new tool – from abject dismissals (“this is complete nonsense”) to evangelism (“this is completely revolutionary!”). What they discovered was “an unusual event” that didn’t follow the usual patterns of hype cycles.

“Hype is typically seen as a speculative bubble,” says Professor Brattstrom. “A company projects a big vision, and the rest of us absorb it.” But the conversation around ChatGPT was different. “It broke that pattern. Because anyone could use it straight away, the hype and conversations on social media became a way for us all to collectively teach ourselves what the technology could and couldn’t do.”

In this instance, it appears that social media – counter to its reputation for polarising debate and amplifying outlandish statements – actually brought moderation, nuance and insight to the discussion. “Once enough knowledge had accumulated, the wildest predictions got vetted out. So the hype helped us reach a more sensible understanding of generative AI, while still keeping us interested in it.”

Sharing insights with the Academy of Management, Brattstrom and Hamadi say their research points to ways in which organisations can utilise hype around accessible technologies, both as an early warning system and as a learning engine. They advise managers to monitor public experimentation, not just expert commentary; to avoid jumping to premature conclusions about a new technology’s value; and to provide employees with opportunities to safely try out and learn from new tools.

The conversation around generative AI is rapidly evolving, and the researchers say it would be a mistake to dismiss public discussion and social media hype as ‘just noise’. “The hype is a learning opportunity, where something valuable would emerge from the public – like ‘wisdom of the crowd’ – because social media enables a diversity of perspectives to gain traction, get corrected, and be amplified,” Hamadi says.

Being proactive in using and understanding new technologies is key, says Professor Brattstrom, so that people are empowered to “take part in the unfolding conversations about its benefits, limitations, and risks.”