Dismantling AI Cowboys

Ever got one of these messages on LinkedIn?

I bet you did, it’s raining down them!

Don’t get me wrong, everyone should have a right to express themselves. How else would the economy grow?

All that glitters is not gold. And in today’s AI world it’s hard to distinguish technological progress from fads. Plus, you want to make sure that the person you’re hiring to automate your operations knows a thing or two about what they’re talking about.

This is a conversation I had a few weeks ago on LinkedIn, after this person had sent me a contact request.

Apparently we have a “common interest in the future of #AI and #Web3”. Well… I can’t say I’m proficient in Web3, nor do I mention it anywhere on my profile… but let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.

I took a closer look at their profile. Their company offers Web3 and Crypto services. As to what quality degree, I don’t know.

Their about section seems to have been written for the Crypto world, except for the occasional “AI” thrown in, probably at a later point, when the “buzz” started:

The classical FOMO. “Upswing”, “buzz”, having a “general catch-up”. Wow! I feel like the world has changed while I was asleep last night…

Digging deeper and asking what they buzz is about, it seems like it’s about the “new model launches and the upcoming ones”, plus the “steep funding rise” in the AI industry.

Aha! Very informative… (not!)

Ok, let’s get something straight here. If I’m a (traditional) business owner or operator minding my own business, providing value to my customers, what’s something I’d care about?

Would I care about the “newest model” that’s 0.01% better on some high-school math scoring benchmark?

Would I care if some remote startup in Silicon Valley raised another $X million in venture capital?

Well, if by “buzz” this person means the noise on LinkedIn or in the tech news, then maybe they’re right. There IS a lot of buzz going on.

But for a business owner focused on growing their operation, this doesn’t matter.

What matter is how to make the AI useful to them.

Why? Because 2023’s AI is good to go for another ten years.

We’ve got ten years worth of integration going on. The work begins now. And it’s not creating models that can replace PhDs. These businesses are keeping the economy going.

So I dug deeper one more time:

I don’t know whether they had to google this answer or if they genuinely knew it.

They’re steering into the right direction: problem identification, clean data etc.

If they knew that it’s not about the models, but the use-cases, why wouldn’t they have said this in the first place?

They end on a vague note, like a proper AI cowboy: early stages in “enterprises”.

Yes, these guys have millions they can afford to spend on proofs-of-concept. But what about the SMB owner? Is AI some sort of privileged technology that only half-gods can afford?

Last one:

Fuzzy answer. Sounds like they used Google again.

Plus, coming back to the model hype: why should anybody care about new models for ten years straight, when there’s businesses that still use pen and paper in 2025??

And ultimately, how can this person explain the “ROI” to a business owner and measure the “dollars spent on AI”, if all they see is the “hype around new tech/models”?

AI cowboys. My LinkedIn inbox is full of them. And I’m sure yours is too.

If you see this pattern, run away.

So what are the points that competent AI consultant should possess in order to provide value to your business?

1. Basic research: know what you do and address your exact pain-points with a possible AI solution pathway

2. Know how to distinguish what works in reality from the latest hype

3. First principles thinking: given problem X, is AI the right tool or something else?

4. Adapt their language to your technical, non-technical, or domain knowledge (see #1)

5. Providing value through their conversation, as much as the medium allows, even if little.

If you want to learn how Generative AI can reduce your manual work (and spot AI cowboys), feel free to book a quick call with me. Or just click reply to this message.

Cheers,
Robert