Generative AI is being sold on hype it cannot deliver, a bad sign for investors betting on the sector and for workers told they must adopt it or fall behind.

• The pitch — AI will cure cancer and replace all jobs — is far ahead of what the products actually do.
• Underneath the marketing it is expensive, unreliable cloud software that loses money.
• The financial story is being oversold too, with sellside analysts, governments, and the press amplifying claims instead of checking them.
• The rollout is described as the biggest forced push of a technology in history, pressuring people to use tools they never asked for.
• The fear angle is the point: scare workers about their jobs and adoption numbers follow.

Outlook: Expect more scrutiny of AI companies' costs and profits, and a harsher reckoning if the spending does not start paying off.