The Center began collecting data on artificial intelligence (AI) one year ago; we now have three survey data sets worth of insights. Traveling the country through the spring and summer and talking first-hand with middle market leaders, it’s clear that AI remains a hot topic of curiosity and interest without clear parameters for the proper use case and benefits.
Adoption of AI by middle market companies continues to be slow and cautious. The rate of adoption has increased from 30% to 36% in a year, not exactly a sprint of fast following but more of a lag. Questions remain about appropriate business use. One leader made a great observation about where to start – find repeatable tasks that people don’t like to do and start there.
Barriers to implementation include cost, data privacy/integrity, integration into current systems, and overall complexity and resources to manage technology. Regulatory risk and compliance represent a big area of concern, particularly for businesses that house and manage customer data. And there is skepticism about inherent bias that may come into play with correct training, utilization, prompts and other aspects of the technology. Despite these concerns, 46% of companies plan to use AI in the coming year for data analytics, while 42% plan to incorporate AI in the customer service function. So, while AI in business might seem like a bullet train, it is here to stay and will continue to influence decision making in the near future.