The arrival of AI is often touted as revolutionary in the field of business. It’s seen billions of pounds of investment all over the world, with the biggest companies reshaping their organisations from the ground up to cater to the AI promise. Nvidia now aims to bring this promise to small and medium businesses with the announcement of the DGX Spark.
Featuring one petaflop of performance in a desktop form factor, this machine marks another of Nvidia’s efforts to drive the conversation towards AI business adoption as a necessity. Built primarily as a development machine, the DGX Spark also lets businesses host AI systems locally, avoiding a reliance on external cloud infrastructure. The company claims it’s a game-changer, but can it really live up to the hype?
Use for the DGX Spark
According to information from both Nvidia and product reviews, the DGX Spark excels in the development of new AI models, most notably those of chat-based systems. This means it could be used as a powerful tool to create customised AI-driven systems, or as a more limited machine that handles customer queries fed into AI language systems.
The building side of this equation stands as the more exciting for many users, though it’s not a use that many without AI expertise can likely explore. In general, it’s a tool for anyone already in a related area looking to test the bounds of what the cutting-edge of AI can do, but with this desire comes caveats.
Avoiding the AI Trap
As well-funded as AI tech has been, and as instrumental as it’s been in driving Nvidia to the greatest market valuation in human history, the promise often doesn’t match the reality. Here in the real world, 95 percent of companies that try AI don’t see a return on investment. The tech and business worlds are filled with stories of companies overcommitting based on hype, laying off staff, and then failing to meet goals or former standards. This then requires rehiring, incurring significant wasted time and revenue. Many speculators believe AI is a bubble primed to burst, and systems like the DGX Spark are examples of that bubble.
Ultimately, avoiding the issues that AI creates is best managed by traditionally operating companies that maintain an already popular business plan. Consider how existing successful online industries like iGaming operate. For these platforms, every casino game, such as Classic Roulette or Premium Blackjack, continues to be developed by hand, avoiding any of the potential pitfalls AI provides. The same is true for the backing websites and the help systems, all of which are written with the accuracy and reliability that only living people can provide. These companies continue to excel and haven’t seen the lack of success that 95% of businesses rushing into AI have. They could then always choose to implement AI to enhance smaller tasks that don’t require as much critical thinking or creativity.
There is a place for AI in business, and the importance of the software and its hardware systems will improve as the technology evolves. Right now, however, it’s difficult to escape the conclusion that AI has been pushed too far too fast. It can’t yet match its promise, and those who rush in have more often been left fixing expensive mistakes. Systems like the DGX Spark do have a place, but not yet for most of us, so joining the marketing excitement, for now, could be premature.
