BrilworksarrowBlogarrowProduct Engineering

Limitations of Generative AI

Hitesh Umaletiya
Hitesh Umaletiya
June 26, 2024
Clock icon5 mins read
Calendar iconLast updated January 6, 2026
Limitations-of-Generative-AI-banner-image
Quick Summary:- As the adoption of generative AI grows, it is crucial to develop a framework to address its limitations, such as hallucinations and bias. In this article, we will explore the limitations of generative AI.

Generative AI is a highly sought-after technology today. It can create realistic images and content, help marketers run marketing campaigns effectively, and suggest innovative ideas. With the advancement of technology, the use cases of generative AI are growing beyond content generation.

For businesses, AI technology is a must-have tool that could save both time and money. These AI tools have already found their place in various industries.  While its potential seems limitless, it's essential to understand the limitations of artificial intelligence. By knowing how it works and the methods this technology leverages behind the scenes, you can better understand the limitations of generative AI technology.

Generative AI is hailed as the technology of the future, and undoubtedly, it has jaw-dropping capabilities to create diverse forms of content; but it comes with challenges and limitations that one should know before investing in generative AI development.

In this article, we will explore the limitations of generative AI and discuss how the future of generative AI technology has the potential to lower workload and enhance productivity.

Limitations of Generative AI

limitations of gen ai models

1. Limited by Training Data

The first limitation is data available for training.

Have you ever wondered how generative AI models can do what they do?

This capability of generating articles and images comes from training.

Take OpenAI's GPT, it was trained on millions-billions of parameters, an unimaginable amount of data available on public and private domain.

Generative_AI_blog_screenshot 1767612762903

And that’s the first limitation of gen AI: it is heavily influenced by the data it was trained on.

If the training data contains inaccuracies, outdated information, or inherent biases, the AI’s generated content can inadvertently mirror those issues.

There are several studies that show that the AI’s generated text directly reflected factual errors and biases within the training data.

  • UNESCO’s 2024 study Bias Against Women and Girls in Large Language Models tested LLM models including GPTs, Meta's Llama model and found “unequivocal evidence” of bias against women in generated content.
  • Harvard Data Science Review work on “Is ChatGPT More Biased Than You?” reports that ChatGPT shows implicit gender bias.
  • A 2025 medical study in PLOS Digital Health‑style literature (multi‑model assurance analysis) shows that LLMs hallucinate in 50–82.7% of adversarial clinical cases, generating fabricated lab values or non‑existent conditions, even when such details are not in the prompt.

For example, a generative AI trained on a data set of news articles with a historical gender bias might generate content that reinforces those biases.

2. Struggling with True Creativity: Remixing, Not Revolutionizing

While generative AI can write content such as articles, poems, code, and landing pages in a few seconds, it’s not truly creating from scratch.

Creativity has always been subjective, yet originality is what has defined it throughout the course of history.

Gen AI models will not fall short if you ask them to write like Shakespeare. However, the issue is not about how well it can mimic Shakespeare; rather, it is about how well it can create something original.

A study from the University of California, Berkeley, found that generative AI lacks the ability to make genuine and creative ideas, as it works by remixing the information on which it is trained.

This means that it can create an exact replica of the artwork down to the last stroke of the brush but will struggle to create something new out of a blank canvas.

These AI models identify patterns and connections within their training data, but they can’t actually understand an underlying concept from which the thought emerged.

3. Lacking Nuanced Understanding

Generative AI often struggles with the subtleties of human language, particularly when it comes to humor, sarcasm, and irony.

A 2024 evaluation of 11 state‑of‑the‑art LLMs across six sarcasm datasets finds that all current LLMs underperform supervised pre‑trained models, concluding that “significant efforts are still required” for understanding sarcasm.

These elements, so intrinsic to natural communication, rely heavily on context, cultural nuances, and unexpected twists that are challenging for AI models to interpret.

Research has shown that while AI can mimic certain linguistic patterns, it often fails to capture the deeper, more layered meanings behind humorous or sarcastic remarks.

This limitation arises because humor typically depends on a shared cultural understanding and an awareness of societal norms, factors that are difficult to encode into training data.

Consequently, while AI-generated content may superficially resemble witty banter or clever wordplay, it frequently misses the mark in conveying the true spirit and intent of human expression. To overcome this issue, you need to humanize AI text to refine AI-generated content, making it more natural, contextually rich, and emotionally accurate for human readers.

Cta 1

4. Difficulty with Adaptability

Generative AI models require significant retraining to adapt to new tasks or situations. This rigidity is largely due to the model's deep reliance on patterns learned from its original training data, making it difficult to generalize to contexts or styles that deviate from what it has been exposed to.

Consequently, even minor changes or adaptations in output often demand substantial human intervention and retraining efforts. This lack of adaptability  underscores the challenges of deploying these models.

5. Data Privacy and Security

Data privacy is both a practical limitation of how current AI systems are built. Foundation models are trained on , mixed datasets, so it is hard to know exactly what personal or sensitive data they have “seen.”

A study on LLM reveals that models do memorize and can reveal personal information under adversarial querying.

The Role of Generative AI in Business

Looking at the state of generative AI, in the future, it will make headlines more than any other technology. When it comes to driving innovation in business, generative AI development is offered as a must-have technology to compete today.

It helps business leaders in many areas, such as content creation, expanding labor productivity, personalizing customer experience, accelerating research and development tasks, and so on.

If we summarise the use case of today’s generative AI models, they can perform the following activities with a little human involvement as following: 

the role of gen ai in business

Are Current Generative AI Limitations & Challenges Solvable?

1. Biases can be reduced

As we move forward, we can expect a stronger focus on reducing biases. This can be achieved through diverse datasets or developing bias detection algorithms. There’s also the possibility of AI systems evolving to reason about fairness and ethics on their own. 

2. True creativity may never be achieved

Right now, AI is fantastic at remixing information, but what if it could go beyond that? The answer is still not known. However, with time, they can get better. We might see AI that doesn’t just replicate patterns but actually invents new forms. 

3. Linguistic Nuance are not impossible to solve 

Today, AI often misses the mark when it comes to the subtleties of language like humor or sarcasm. Looking ahead, though, future AI could better grasp these nuances. 

4. Flexibility can be improved

One of the current challenges with generative AI is its rigidity. In the future, we might witness breakthroughs.

5. Privacy and security will remain always challenging

Future developments are likely to place a higher emphasis security and privacy through stricter regulations, advanced anonymization techniques, or even decentralized AI models that minimize dependency on massive datasets. 

6. Integration with Human Expertise will be smoother

Looking ahead, we’re likely to see AI working hand-in-hand with human experts, complementing rather than replacing our skills. Future applications may focus on augmenting human capabilities.

Many of these issues can be managed through practical techniques for working around generative AI challenges that stem from limitations in current AI models.

How Businesses Can Prepare for Generative AI Adoption

For many startups, the key challenge with AI is the limits of their infrastructure. Their company infrastructure is not designed to run AI for advanced applications.

What many business owners and IT leaders underestimate is the need for preparation. Generative AI adoption requires a strategic approach for how  and where AI will be used inside the business.

To explore this in more detail, see our guide how businesses can prepare for generative AI adoption.

How Businesses Can Prepare For Generative Ai Adoption

All these limitations and challenges do not mean that geneartive AI will die out soon. It is already making changes and taking leaps. It is how you use it that matters. You can turn these limitations into opportunities if you have proper roadmap for successful generative AI in place. AI integration can be more challenging if not implemented without preparation. Here’s how businesses can get ready:

  • Before adopting generative AI, companies should identify where it can add real value. 

  • Generative AI relies on datasets. Businesses must ensure compliance with industry regulations and implement strong security measures. 

  • AI tools work best when employees understand how to use them effectively. Companies should invest in training programs to help teams adapt to AI-driven processes. 

  • Since AI models can inherit biases from training data, businesses must regularly audit AI-generated output for fairness, accuracy, and ethical considerations. 

  • Instead of a full-scale AI rollout, businesses should test generative AI on smaller projects first. 

By taking a thoughtful approach, businesses can harness generative AI’s potential while mitigating risks. With the right strategy, AI can enhance productivity, drive innovation, and improve customer experiences without compromising security or ethics.

Cta 2

Conclusion 

Generative AI has impressed professionals across the globe with its jaw-dropping generation capabilities. It provides a new way to develop and market products. Still, it often misses the subtle aspects of human creativity and communication, such as humor, sarcasm, and context.

These AI models struggle to understand unspoken (deeper) meanings and, therefore, interpret inaccurately. Human judgment remains crucial.

Businesses that want to employ generative AI in their operations should understand where it shines and where it falls short to effectively leverage these awe-inspiring models, improving their marketing, content generation, and customer service.

FAQ

Generative AI has made significant strides, but it still faces challenges such as ethical concerns regarding biases in data, the inability to understand context fully, and issues with generating coherent long-form content. Addressing these limitations is crucial for advancing AI technologies responsibly.

Bias in generative AI models arises from the data used to train them, which can reflect societal biases and lead to discriminatory outputs. Researchers are actively working on mitigating bias through improved data curation and algorithmic adjustments to ensure fairer and more inclusive AI applications.

Generative AI raises ethical concerns around plagiarism, copyright infringement, and the potential misuse of AI-generated content for malicious purposes. Clear guidelines and regulations are needed to govern its use and protect intellectual property rights in the digital age.

Creating natural and contextually appropriate conversations remains a challenge for generative AI. Issues such as maintaining coherence over extended dialogues, understanding nuanced human emotions, and avoiding repetitive or nonsensical responses are areas of active research and development. How can businesses leverage generative AI while mitigating its limitations? Businesses can harness generative AI to automate tasks, enhance customer service through chatbots, and generate content at scale. However, they must be vigilant about the limitations, including accuracy, bias, and ethical considerations, to deploy AI responsibly and effectively. These questions and answers are designed to address popular keywords and concepts related to generative AI, ensuring they are optimized for SEO while providing informative content.

Hitesh Umaletiya

Hitesh Umaletiya

Co-founder of Brilworks. As technology futurists, we love helping startups turn their ideas into reality. Our expertise spans startups to SMEs, and we're dedicated to their success.

Get In Touch

Contact us for your software development requirements

You might also like

Get In Touch

Contact us for your software development requirements