Is AI magic🪄?

Why even thinking about AI is magic?

For quite some time now, AI has been a huge topic, not only in the media.

When watching or reading news (not only promoted or sponsored content), advertisements, and offerings of AI products, there is a recurring pattern:

“AI will solve nearly all your problems, maybe not today but in the future. The only thing you must do is buy and implement the right products and services.”

Sounds like magic!

While I am still not convinced, I have asked ChatGPT and Gemini and both confirmed:

AI is not magic!

Maybe it is just a smart implementation of a disclaimer by OpenAI and Google. Means whenever something goes wrong, they can say: We told you.

But it has some similarities to magic:

✅ You can do things - you cannot do without.
✅ It can have positive and negative outcomes
✅ Sometimes it is a deception or an illusion

I am not an expert in magic😊. But to my understanding, no one is a magician from day one.

You may have some talent, but you must learn and practice all the spells, potions, etc. and maybe even specialize in one area. And of course, this will take time.

And that is what magic and artificial intelligence have in common:

It does not come for free. It requires knowledge, training, and real-life experience to build expertise. And it will have expected and unexpected outcomes.

What is the magic you see in AI?