December 15, 2025, 11:46 AM EST. A year of reckoning for generative AI unfolds in 2025. After ChatGPT's breakthrough, leaders touted universal productivity gains and even disease cures, spurring a global FOMO and rapid product churn. Yet surveys from the US Census Bureau to Stanford show weak business uptake, with many AI projects stuck in pilots and uncertain ROI. Core technology progress now feels incremental, highlighted by the bungled GPT-5 launch that signaled the end of an era of constant breakthroughs. As MIT Technology Review's Hype Correction package argues, we need tempered expectations about what AI can realistically deliver, where adoption will actually materialize, and how the broader economy shapes the next phase of the AI wave.
