How AI Creates a Capability Mirage
Nobody is talking about this: the AI capabilities everyone thinks you have don't actually exist yet.
Why it matters
Organizations are deploying AI under the assumption it solves problems it can't yet solve, creating false confidence in capability that will collapse when real work demands it. A cautionary read for practitioners betting strategy on AI maturity timelines.
The key facts
8 to knowPublished in MIT Sloan Review — academic credibility lens on AI deployment risk
Core thesis: capability mirage — surface-level AI deployment masks underlying fragility
Targets organizational decision-makers overestimating AI readiness for production work
Analogy framework: dry rot, Potemkin village, Wizard of Oz — all pointing to illusion-vs-reality gap
Published in MIT Sloan Review (reputable source for business/tech analysis)
Framing: capability mirage as a structural risk (Potemkin villages, dry rot metaphor)
Targets practitioner audience making deployment decisions
Date: September 2026 (recent)
Go to the source
MIT Sloan Management Reviewsloanreview.mit.edu
Publisher excerpt: PPaint/Ikon Images Dry rot. A Potemkin village. The Wizard of Oz. What do those things have in common? In each case, they may look good on the surface, but it’s only an illusion. Wood afflicted with dry rot looks just fine until the tree it’s in topples down. Grigory Potemkin is said to have tried…