Initially hailed as a cost-saving, infinitely scalable digital labor, AI's adoption is proving bumpy. Major firms face unexpected high costs, system failures, and reliability issues. Beyond inference, expenses for cloud, integration, and human oversight, coupled with safety concerns and environmental impacts, challenge AI’s initial promise, especially for complex tasks requiring human judgment. Despite these hurdles and 'AI bubble' concerns, businesses continue investing in AI for productivity, though human labor's future remains uncertain, with automation progressing but not necessarily a complete takeover.