Charlie Munger calls out AI's "crazy hype"

While the entire tech world treats generative AI like the second coming, 99-year-old Charlie Munger isn't buying the frenzy.

Speaking at Zoom's Zoomtopia conference, Warren Buffett's longtime right-hand man and Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman threw cold water on the current hype, saying AI is getting far more credit than it actually deserves.

Just "old news" for Buffett's right-hand man

Munger flatly told the audience that AI is essentially overhyped. In his view, software helping build more software has been around for decades, making today's tools less of a sudden miracle and more of a natural continuation.

He pointed out that we have always had artificial intelligence in the form of software creating more software. It is certainly useful, he said, but it has simply been here for a long time.

This is not the first time Munger has dialed down the excitement. Earlier this year at the annual meeting for his newspaper, the Daily Journal, he delivered a very similar reality check.

Back then, Munger admitted that AI is important, but argued the hype surrounding it is crazy. As he bluntly put it, AI will not cure cancer, and it will not do everything we want it to do.

Buffett shares a similar skepticism, noting at Berkshire's annual meeting in May that nothing in AI will replace human genes. Still, Buffett admitted he is wary of its sheer potential, noting that when a technology can do almost anything, it is impossible to un-invent.

Preaching caution while quietly using the tools

Despite Munger's public skepticism, his own backyard was already leaning into the trend.

At the very same Daily Journal meeting where Munger warned of irrational exuberance, an executive revealed that the newspaper had actually been experimenting with AI to write articles since the summer of 2022.

That was months before OpenAI rolled out ChatGPT in November 2022 and sparked the historic consumer boom that hit 100 million users in just over two months.

Why it matters

Munger's pushback offers a badly needed breath of fresh air amidst runaway tech fever.

For everyday users and builders, his take is a reminder to cut through the marketing noise. Generative tools are fantastic productivity boosters for writing or coding, but they are not silver bullets that can solve deep structural problems overnight.

For the broader industry, Berkshire's top brass highlights the widening gap between stock market expectations and real-world utility. When an industry promises a technology can do everything, disappointment usually follows.

We think the Daily Journal's actual behavior speaks louder than Munger's blunt critique. Calling out the hype publicly while quietly deploying AI in newsrooms as early as mid-2022 shows true pragmatic thinking. The takeaway is simple: ignore the messianic promises, but never hesitate to use the tools where they genuinely save time.