Jersey Mike’s IPO shows just how bad the hype around AI is

I can’t pinpoint the exact turning point from realistic excitement about new technology to hype Sorry, come on – But I’m pretty sure when a sandwich shop with Danny DeVito as its public face talks about AI in its IPO documents, we must be getting closer.

Such is the case with Jersey Mike’s.

Given how hungry investors are for all things AI these days, I understand why tech companies feel the need to spread AI dust all over their playgrounds. This also applies to non-AI startups Raising investment capitalas is the case for Public appearance of Bending Spoonsa company that buys legacy “non-AI” technology companies to rehabilitate them.

Just for kicks, I took a look at Jersey Mike’s IPO documents to see how far this coercion could go. The sandwich shop certainly wouldn’t need to mention AI in the S-1. But ha!

The term artificial intelligence, or its abbreviation “AI,” was mentioned 22 times. In this case, the company cannot claim to be selling AI software. It sells submarine sandwiches. AI products are what investors are really craving (terrible pun intended).

However, it has found a way to mention AI in its risk warnings to investors. That might be more funny. It does not explain why using AI could be dangerous for investors, other than a wave of the hand: “We have begun to use AI technologies in our business.”

In all fairness, as a company that manages franchisees, it relies on software (cited 52 times) and data (112 mentions), as all companies do. Its warning of the dangers of AI was standard copy, and perhaps necessary, as such disasters have already happened to other food companies, e.g Half-baked AI inventory tool Introduced by Starbucks, which was unable to adopt and was recently cancelled.

However, I’m going to go out on a limb here and predict that the risk of an AI disaster for a company that produces real sandwiches, not AI baskets, is about the same as the risk of a franchise store being struck by lightning. This is in fact It happened by the way To a store in Texas in 2021. However, the weather is only mentioned 5 times in S-1. And lightning? Not once.