The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that the newest metric on the investor relations menu is artificial intelligence. The Globe's Gus Carlson writes that since November, 2022, mentions of the technology on corporate earnings calls have soared: AI was mentioned more than 30,000 times on third-quarter 2023 calls, up from just 500 in the first quarter of 2022. The buzz should come as no surprise. The promise of AI to improve productivity by streamlining processes and reducing labour costs has finance Scrooges salivating and investor relations functionaries scrambling to tell compelling AI stories to investors. Almost 40 per cent of chief financial officers surveyed think generative AI chatbots will lead to transformational change in their business processes over the next three years. Prepandemic, companies embracing AI as a strategic imperative posted 50 per cent greater revenue growth, on average, compared with peers, according to Accenture. Leading the AI charge are the Magnificent Seven -- Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla. Regular humans in the AI crosshairs can only hope their C-suite leaders are as hungry to do good by them as they are to do well on their earnings calls.