A global survey of over 300 business leaders conducted by MIT Technology Review Insights and Australian telecommunications company Telstra found that only 9 percent companies use artificial intelligence to a large extent – writes CNBC.
The study also found that most leaders were optimistic about the potential of artificial intelligence and expected its wider use in the future. However, early adopters of this technology implemented it only in limited business areas.
Implementing AI is not easy
“There is a misconception about how easy it is to launch mature, enterprise-ready, generative AI,” Stela Solar, director of Australia's National Center for Artificial Intelligence, said in the research report.
Launching artificial intelligence in a company carries additional requirements. The company needs to improve data quality and capabilities, privacy measures, artificial intelligence skills. Additionally, it is imperative to implement safe and responsible AI management throughout the organization.
Ambitious plans
As CNBC notes, most business leaders expect that in 2024, the number of functions or general purposes for which generative artificial intelligence will be implemented will more than double.
As much as 85 percent respondents expect to use generative AI for low-value tasks in 2024. In this group, 77 percent expect the implementation of AI in customer service, and 74 percent for strategic analysis.
Further areas of potential implementation of artificial intelligence include product innovation, supply chain logistics and sales.
What prevents the rapid implementation of AI?
The report lists several obstacles to the widespread implementation of generative artificial intelligence. According to respondents, the biggest problem create IT resources and opportunities.
Only less than 30 percent respondents rated their companies' IT attributes as conducive to the rapid adoption of generative AI. And those who are already implementing the technology are even less confident in their IT infrastructure.
Meanwhile, 56 percent respondents stated that the limiting factor in the implementation of generative artificial intelligence is theirs investment budgets allocated to IT.
As much as 77 percent respondents cited regulation, compliance and data privacy as the main obstacles to the rapid adoption of generative AI.
According to survey respondents, another barrier to implementing generative AI is the lack of staff with the right skills in generative AI. Companies fear that they do not have the right talent internally and that it is unavailable on the market.
Fears versus hopes
Still, the survey reflected overall positive sentiment about the future role of generative AI in business. While six in 10 respondents expect generative AI to significantly disrupt their industry in the next five years, 78 percent sees it as an opportunity to increase competitiveness. However, about 8 percent sees it as a threat.
According to a McKinsey report published last year, generative AI is expected to have the greatest impact on the sales, marketing, consumer activities, software development and research and development sectors and could contribute an estimated $4.4 trillion to the global economy annually.
