Can you point to the most optimistic six month projections that you have seen?

I have encountered a lot of people say it will be better in six months, and every six months It has been.

I have also seen a few predictions that say 'in a year or two they will be able to do a job completely. I am sceptical, but I would say such claims are rare. Dario Amodei has been about the only prominent voice that I have encountered that puts such abilities on a very short timeframe, and he still points to more than a year.

The practical use of AI has certainly increased a lot in the last six months.

So I guess what I'm asking is more specifics on what you feel was claimed, by whom, and how much did they fall short?

Without that supporting evidence you could just be being annoyed by the failure of claims that exist in your imagination.