No AI "Killer App?" It is to be Expected

It's too early to contemplate an artificial intelligence "killer app." Indeed, some will be tempted to argue there will be lots of killer use cases, and less likely an identifiable killer app.

Indeed, that is characteristic of "general-purpose technologies" that affect whole economies.

GPTs are technologies that have the potential to transform multiple sectors and industries, such as the steam engine, electricity, and the internet. By definition, such technologies affect the entire economy.

Given the broad applicability and versatility of GPTs, it's unlikely that a single killer app would be the primary driver of adoption. Instead, GPTs often enable a wide range of innovative use cases across various industries.

The Internet: enabled e-commerce, online education, remote work, social media, and has affected the entire economy, virtually every industry to some extent and life in general.

Other compuing technologies which are not GPTs, also by definition, have some “killer app” or “killer use case” that drove mass adoption. The spreadsheet drove business adoption of personal computers, for financial modeling. Graphic design software (and desktop publishing) arguably propelled adoption of the Macintosh.

Word processing arguably drove widespread adoption of PCs by non-financial personnel. The web browser and World Wide Web’s multimedia capabilities spurred mass adoption of all sorts of visual, auditory and interactive applications (aided by broadband, which made visual content possible). 

Computing “in your pocket or purse” drove smartphone adoption beyond business users whose killer app was mobile email access. 

Year	Platform	Killer App	Description
1979	Apple II	VisiCalc	Spreadsheet software that revolutionized personal finance and business analysis.
1983	IBM PC	Lotus 1-2-3	Powerful spreadsheet software that further popularized the PC.
1985	Macintosh	MacPaint and MacDraw	Graphic design software that showcased the intuitive user interface of the Mac.
1987	IBM PC	Microsoft Word for Windows	Word processor that became the industry standard for document creation.
1990	Various	World Wide Web	The interconnected network of web pages that transformed information access.
1995	Windows 95	Microsoft Internet Explorer	Web browser that popularized the internet for the masses.
1998	iPod	iTunes	Digital music player and media store that revolutionized the music industry.
2007	iPhone	App Store	Marketplace for mobile apps that transformed the smartphone industry.
2009	Various	Google Chrome	Web browser that focused on speed and simplicity.
2010	iPad	Various apps	Tablet computer that popularized e-books, gaming, and productivity apps.
2016	Various	Pokémon Go	Augmented reality game that brought the world outside into the digital realm.
2020	Various	Zoom	Video conferencing software that became essential during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If AI emerges as a GPT, it is unlikely to have a single killer app or use case. GPTs just are different.