Has AI made anyone else's work life worse?
AI can be great and all and I've seen it be a gamechanger for some, but as far as I can tell it hasn't changed that much for a lot around me, beyond helping me discover excel formulas, and to be honest it's made my life immeasurably worse in many ways. Has anyone else in IB, particularly coverage, noticed the same?
My Director is a lazy POS and relies on it endlessly to justify his useless existence. I work in a small team and have to interact with him constantly and the only thing this man does is interact with our AI tool. All his emails are written by AI, his ideas come from AI, his notes come from AI, his opinions are fed through AI and at the end of the day it's all a load of AI slop. Half his emails to anyone miss the point because ChatGPT isn't really well versed in the nuances of european utilities legislation, the other half are just over-written slop with no real message. His latest contribution to society has been to write our industry "year ahead" thought leadership piece entirely with AI, and wouldn't you guess, it's more AI slop with key messages which go entirely against every single key driver we had agreed on as a priority as a group. It's not just this one guy as well, my life is now largely verifying AI content or arguing with people who have sent me a completely wrong AI output because they were too lazy to do 10 minutes work. I have now seen genuninely laughably wrong content go to clients because some VP or Director thought ChatGPT could accurately produce an analysis of market trends for some random small cap.
It just feels like some parts of the bank are driven entirely by inertia where a few people have managed to reduce the amount of effort they put in to nil by scraping through with AI gibberish and things are just about alright for now. However, I can't imagine that it won't all come crashing down when AI has reduced the value-add of bankers to basically zero.
This sounds less about AI and about your director
Yeah, maybe I am ranting about a specific individual... That being said, I am seeing so much widespread over reliance on AI
AI makes smart people more efficient and dumb people more retarded
It sounds like you're experiencing firsthand the growing pains of AI integration in the workplace, particularly in investment banking. Based on the most insightful WSO threads, your frustrations are not unique. While AI has undoubtedly streamlined certain tasks, it's also introduced a host of challenges, especially when misused or over-relied upon by individuals who lack the expertise to validate its outputs.
Here are some key takeaways from WSO discussions on this topic:
AI Misuse and Over-Reliance:
Many professionals, especially in roles like coverage banking, have noted that AI tools are often treated as a "magic bullet." This leads to situations where individuals, like your Director, rely on AI to produce content or analysis without understanding the nuances of the subject matter. As you've observed, this can result in inaccurate or irrelevant outputs, which not only waste time but also risk damaging client relationships.
Erosion of Accountability:
AI has, in some cases, enabled a culture of laziness. Instead of enhancing productivity, it's allowed some team members to offload their responsibilities onto tools like ChatGPT, often without proper oversight. This creates a heavier burden for diligent team members (like yourself) who are left to clean up the mess.
Quality Control Issues:
A recurring theme in WSO threads is the lack of proper quality control when AI is used. As you've pointed out, AI-generated content often lacks the depth, accuracy, and contextual understanding required for high-stakes work like market analysis or thought leadership pieces. This can lead to embarrassing errors and a loss of credibility with clients.
The Human Element Still Matters:
Despite the hype around AI, the most helpful WSO content emphasizes that investment banking is still fundamentally a relationship-driven business. AI can assist with data processing and routine tasks, but it cannot replace the human judgment, creativity, and interpersonal skills that are critical for building trust and delivering value to clients.
Long-Term Implications:
Your concern about AI reducing the value-add of bankers to zero is valid, but WSO threads suggest that this is unlikely to happen across the board. While AI may commoditize certain aspects of the job (e.g., data analysis, report generation), it also creates opportunities for bankers to focus on higher-value activities, such as strategic advisory and relationship management. The challenge lies in ensuring that teams adapt to these changes rather than becoming complacent.
Suggestions to Navigate This Situation:
Ultimately, while AI is here to stay, its success in the workplace depends on how it's implemented and managed. It sounds like your team could benefit from a more balanced approach that combines the efficiency of AI with the expertise and judgment of human professionals.
Sources: Google partners with Goldman Sachs in automating Investment Banking, Work at top AM -- AI will virtually kill of entry-level roles in AM over the next 5yrs, Will robots replace your consulting or financial career?, Thoughts on AI and the future of the job market?, Tech, which is becoming increasingly sophisticated, will replace investment bankers
It’s a bubble with less than a year before it pops…
TLDR: it’s a slippery slope but honestly I wish we reverted back to pre-AI times as it hasn’t changed much yet everyone thinks it’s a superhero and doesn’t think independently anymore
In some ways it makes things more efficient (i.e. asking for an excel formula alternative or word smithing) but similarly to your point, the seniors think AI is some magic 8 ball with all the answers.
Don’t know what messaging you want a CIP page to be ? “Throw it in AI and see what comes back”
Need to build a complex model but don’t have any data from the company to support it? “Throw it in AI to figure it out”
Need industry/ customer quotes that support this business being “best in class” - “throw it in AI, there must be something out there”.
Meanwhile everything you get back is a load of crap and doesn’t help at all because… Chat GPT isn’t an expert in any industry let alone my niche one.
Also I’ve seen it materially decline the thinking ability of junior analysts. They just plug and chug, trying to get AI to do everything for them and 9/10 it’s a load of s**t that makes 0 sense or data quoted from like a reddit post or some absurd source. Also makes auditing fun when I ask where it came from and they just say “Chat GPT” and when I ask if they saved the source everytime it’s a no…
The only downside on my end , possibly due to OCD , is that I find myself fact and spell check most of my outputs religiously.
AI helps with meeting minutes but when it gets stuff wrong boy does it shit the bed; you have to doublecheck everything and sometimes it's faster for me to do things in real time on my own. I've recently rage quite ChatGPT for personal use because it's already being shitified: it gives half answers and goes off topic so you have to nag it to do the task you originally wanted....obviously so Sam Altman can say "people are using it more than ever". Plus the guardrails to prevent egregious behavior undercut the overall utility and I can't get AI to even touch certain subjects for fear of legal repercussions: AI has already made the jump to being a conservative big business that can't really be as dynamic as we want. AI is a useful tool but there are definitely people trying to make it more than it is and it's going to blow up in their faces.
As far as the AI bubble.....I've been under the impression for 5 years now that shit will hit the fan and it gets bigger and bigger by the minute. So who knows when the chickens come home to roost. PAMP IT BABYYY MILKE THAT SHIT FOR ALL IT'S WORTH
Sorry about your boss, sounds like he'd be a turd no matter what technology you have.
They need to take AI tools away from anyone over 50. I swear to God they don't understand that it's not to be taken at face value
It is interesting that it seems like the biggest adopters at my firm are actually senior people... I think because juniors are usually looking for something very specific that AI is likely to fuck up (or we're aware enough of its limitations to know that it might so we don't bother with it) whereas seniors will just blurt out a question in a very colloquial way and accept the answer they get back. Ignorance is bliss I guess
I’ve found juniors to be the biggest offender.
It should be common sense to a person that you can’t use ChatGPT as a footnote source and that you should verify whatever the prompt spits out
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