Hammer Time for AI

By David Danto

Is there an AI backlash in society, or just a poor back swing of the hammer?

BC Strategies recently discussed a perceived backlash to Generative AI from large groups of end-users. This is the gist of what I presented in our discussion:

I’ve used a hammer analogy in presentations for years: There isn’t a bad hammer in the world. A hammer is just a tool. If I’m using it to drive a nail or build a birdhouse, it’s great. If I’m using it to cut glass or treat an injured person, the problem isn’t the hammer – it’s me.

That’s how we need to look at today’s AI.

I use AI every day, and it has absolutely made me more productive. I don’t type as much as I used to. I dictate notes, let AI help organize them, and then I shift into editor mode. I review the work, correct it, reshape it, and make sure it still sounds like me. What used to take days can now take hours. Sometimes less.

I also use AI where I used to use search, especially when I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for. If I know the destination, traditional search still works. But if I’m trying to figure out whether a product exists, how something works, or what options are available, AI often gets me to a useful starting point much faster.

So no, I’m not anti-AI. I’m anti-stupid-AI.

The problem is that society is starting to swing the hammer wildly. Companies are laying people off and blaming AI for decisions they probably wanted to make anyway. Vendors are slapping “AI” onto every product name as if the letters alone make the product better. And now everything is suddenly “agentic,” even when it’s just basic automation wearing a buzzword costume.

An automated camera switcher is not agentic because it changes shots when someone speaks. That’s automation. Useful automation, perhaps, but still automation. Calling it agentic doesn’t make it smarter or give it “agency.” It just makes the marketing worse.

The same applies to work product. AI can be incredibly helpful, but it still needs supervision. It can organize, summarize, suggest, and accelerate. But it can also drop a paragraph, make an assumption, or quietly remove something important between drafts. That means I don’t get to stop working. I just do different work. I become the editor, fact-checker, supervisor, and adult in the room.

That may be the part that too many people are missing. AI does not remove responsibility. It increases the need for it.

Stopping The Backlash

So the message for AI’s hammer time is simple: stop the stupid. Platforms need to stop throwing unstable tools into production environments and asking customers to be unpaid testers. Stop turning every AI platform into a weekly game of Jenga. A new feature lands before users understand the last one. A new interface appears before IT can train people on the old one. A new “breakthrough” gets announced before anyone has figured out whether the previous breakthrough actually helped.

That isn’t always innovation. Sometimes it looks more like platform panic – the fear that someone else’s AI demo will move faster, sound smarter, or steal the headline first. Real progress gives organizations tools they can understand, govern, trust, and use well. It does not mean tossing them a new feature every week and expecting them to call the bruises progress.

If companies want to reduce the backlash, they need to use the hammer more wisely. Stop pretending every AI feature is revolutionary. Stop using AI as cover for workforce cuts while reporting billions in profits. Stop calling automation “agentic.” Stop treating customers and employees like beta testers for half-finished ideas.

AI can help us build better things, but only if we remember that the intelligence still needs to come from us. The hammer didn’t hit us in the thumb and cause the bleeding. We did that to ourselves. With AI, we keep swinging harder and faster, often at the wrong target, and then act surprised when something breaks. Right now, what’s breaking is user trust and employee dedication. After enough pummeling, the real question is whether any users will still want to pick up the tool.

Up Next

David Danto’s May events included the Pepcom Spring Spectacular in New York, where he saw the Memoket recorder. While a dozen UC firms have solutions that will let you drop your mobile device on a table to record an impromptu meeting, Danto thinks these are all non-starter ideas, as people won’t want to surrender their personal device to record a meeting. Memoket provides a solution.

Meanwhile, Dave Michels traveled to Nice, France, and met with the Enreach for Service Providers (E4SP) team. They are planning a big update soon, and Dave particularly likes that it’s a SIM-ready solution. SIM-based mobility is finally coming off hold.

After those, both Daves are taking a brief break in May, with Mr. Michels around Europe with his family, and Mr. Danto and his wife finally seeing the glaciers before they all melt. But neither Dave is fully off the grid as firms prepare for the big InfoComm show in Las Vegas in June

We’ve already heard there will be some big industry announcements at InfoComm. Its key themes seem to be shaping up as 1) Bundles - pre-packaged gear of one or more brand; 2) UC Platform Interoperability - look for some new announcements there; and 3) About two years after we wrote here that dvLED is at an inflection point, manufacturers and industry observers seem to be saying that…dvLED is at an inflection point - who’d a thunk it? Add to that, Enterprise Connect style keynotes from Microsoft and Cisco, and the TalkingPointz PickHitz showcasing what we feel shouldn’t be missed, and it will clearly be an event not to be missed.

Speaking of not-to-be-missed, be sure to see Dave Michels’ discussions with Ilya Bukshteyn about the expanded positioning of Microsoft Teams. Also, watch this preview of Dave’s interview with Twilio co-Founder Jeff Lawson. Jeff took a break from his duties as Publisher of the Onion to share his thoughts on CRM.

Keep In Mind

This is just a tiny portion of the industry insights Dave Michels and David Danto provide to their paid subscribers of the Insider Report. For more information on pricing and processes, check the TalkingPointz website here or contact one of the Daves to arrange a discount.