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Paper
Why AI projects fail: 19 headline statistics, and what each one actually counts
167 min read
Nineteen widely quoted failure figures traced to their sources, and the well-known cases re-examined from the primary record.
Read the paperThe series, in reading order
- "80% of AI projects fail" traces to a footnote one line long6 min read
- Zillow wrote off $407.9m. The fix everyone recommends would have changed nothing.8 min read
- AI project failure rates: four questions that tell you whether the number means anything6 min read
- Epic's sepsis model missed two thirds of cases. Its accuracy claim was never published.8 min read
- Checking the source is not enough: I traced a number to a scientific paper and found a Teams meeting9 min read
- Amazon's AI did exactly what it was told. Deleting words for two years did not help.6 min read
- Anthropic's safety policy has never stopped a release. Yours probably hasn't either.11 min read
- AI vs IT project failure rate: the comparison has never been made10 min read