Predictive AI Holds Its Own Against Generative AI

Despite the hype around generative AI, enterprises are still adopting predictive AI at a steady pace.

Published on Feb. 11, 2026

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While generative AI has captured the public's imagination, a recent industry event shows that predictive AI projects are thriving alongside their newer counterpart. The Machine Learning Week 2026 conference in San Francisco will feature an equal number of presentations on predictive AI and generative AI use cases, indicating that enterprises are continuing to invest in both technologies to solve different business problems. Predictive AI may lack the 'wow' factor of generative AI, but it continues to deliver tangible value in areas like fraud detection, pricing, and medical diagnosis.

Why it matters

Predictive AI and generative AI are often pitted against each other, competing for resources and attention. However, the two technologies serve distinct purposes and can actually complement each other when used together. This balanced representation at an industry-leading event suggests that enterprises recognize the ongoing value of predictive AI, even as generative AI captures the public spotlight.

The details

The Machine Learning Week 2026 conference program features a range of predictive AI projects, including product recommendations (Spotify), fraud detection (DoorDash), pricing (JP Morgan Chase), predicting insurance claim denials (NextGen Healthcare), medical diagnosis (Axtria), image validation for retailers (Bizom), and anomaly detection for finance. These are balanced by presentations on cutting-edge generative AI use cases from companies like OpenAI, Netflix, Google DeepMind, and Amazon. While generative AI may be more advanced and 'sexy,' predictive AI continues to deliver tangible business value, and many enterprises are pursuing a hybrid approach that combines the two.

  • The Machine Learning Week 2026 conference will take place on May 5-6, 2026 in San Francisco.
  • The 'early-bird' registration deadline for the conference is February 13, 2026.

The players

Eric Siegel

The founder of the Machine Learning Week conference series and the program chair for the 2026 edition.

Spotify

A company presenting a predictive AI project for product recommendations at the conference.

DoorDash

A company presenting a predictive AI project for fraud detection at the conference.

JP Morgan Chase

A company presenting a predictive AI project for pricing at the conference.

NextGen Healthcare

A company presenting a predictive AI project for predicting insurance claim denials at the conference.

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What they’re saying

“GenAI has the capacity to generate new content items (such as text, graphics or sound), while predictive AI calculates the odds on certain outcomes for individual cases, such as whether each individual will click, buy, lie or die.”

— Eric Siegel, Founder, Machine Learning Week (Forbes)

“Securing genAI's reliability layer represents predictive AI's new killer app and stands as our last hope before the AI bubble detonates.”

— Eric Siegel, Founder, Machine Learning Week (Forbes)

What’s next

The 'early-bird' registration deadline for the Machine Learning Week 2026 conference is February 13, 2026.

The takeaway

While generative AI may be capturing the public's imagination, predictive AI continues to deliver tangible business value for enterprises across a range of industries. By combining the two approaches, organizations can maximize the potential of their AI investments and address a variety of operational challenges.