These are two back-to-back scenes from a new South Indian movie. It’s a police thriller and the detective is trying to unravel the cryptic verses left by a serial killer.

First, they use Google Translate. Then, they switch to ChatGPT to find the verses’ origins. This movie isn’t niche – it’s a mainstream thriller! Clearly, the filmmaker believes audiences understand this tech. This is the fastest I’ve seen a cutting edge technology make it to a mainstream movie.

It makes me wonder about the “killer app” for generative AI. Maybe consumer adoption, like the iPhone, will happen before broad based enterprise use. GenAI could use some baking time to get people comfortable with using it. This will also allow for ideal UX patterns to emerge organically over time.

iPhone class smartphones were a generational leap in mobile computing and companies didn’t train us on how to use them. We learned it on our own dime and time.

Moreover, any attempt to build a GenAI experience into the current state of enterprise tech is going look like a Blackberry, not an iPhone.

So I think, we need a true iPhone moment for GenAI.

Who will do it? My bet is on a startup we haven’t heard of yet – the next trillion-dollar company riding the wave.

ps: I refused to use a Blackberry, clinging on to my Palm Pilot and Motorola Q until the iPhone came along.