How AI is like the microwave of the 2020's.
Microwave ovens were marketed with incredible claims when newly released; with promises like, “You can cook a full Thanksgiving feast with just your microwave!”. If that same statement was made today, we would all roll our eyes at the egregious claim.
Technically, you probably could make a Thanksgiving meal with just a microwave. But is it going to be nearly as good? No way. The real value comes from using the microwave as a tool to help with the cooking process. For example, if you use it to boil water or melt butter, that will help cut the time required and help with the overall process.
Microwaves are a valuable tool – but they’re still a tool. The same can be said for AI. Understanding that and using AI accordingly will give you the greatest results, and will prevent you from pouring out tons of “microwave meal” quality content.
Like microwaves in the 1970s, AI has sparked inflated expectations. Gartner's hype cycle highlights how technology often follows a predictable path. This graph demonstrates the cycle we often see with emerging tech (think VR, autonomous vehicles, and streaming). AI is currently sitting at the “Peak of Inflated Expectations”.

We’re already seeing many examples where the expectations of AI overestimate its capabilities of replacing human skill: incorrect information, images with way too many fingers on a hand, automated messages that are clearly not written by a human.
Just like a microwave, it can’t take on every piece of the project and be expected to create the same level of quality. But we have found some great time-saving, “boiling water” type uses for it.