Looking at the trends over the last few years, one can say that artificial intelligence or AI is no longer a buzzword in the enterprise circle. Experts believe as AI becomes increasingly embedded in the society, it will not only change the businesses that adopt it but will also have significant economic, social and civic effects on citizens and consumers.
A recent Economist Intelligence Unit study sponsored by Microsoft study entitled, “Intelligent Economies: AI’s Transformation of Industries and Society,” believes that AI is on course to transform the global economy, as businesses expect AI to have a positive impact on growth (90%), productivity (86%), innovation (84%) and job creation (69%) in their country and industry. [To read the full report click here]
However, such transformations will also introduce new challenges such as ethical or security concerns as well as cost and execution risk. Towards this end, this study explores to what extent corporate and government decision-makers believe AI will help meet their toughest challenges, including growth, productivity, innovation and job creation.
The survey showed that nine out of ten executives from around the world (94%) describe AI as important to solving their organizations’ strategic challenges. Besides, more than one in four (27%) say their organizations have already incorporated AI into key processes and services, while another 46% have one or more AI pilot projects under way.
On the positive side, the study predicts that national and regional economies will become more effective in the way they produce and distribute goods and services. For example, AI will also create new roles and jobs. Despite concerns about job displacement, respondents were broadly optimistic that AI will create new roles. Overall, nearly six out of ten (59%) believe that AI will increase wages and 56% actually see a boost to the employment rate in their country or industry, noted further findings in the survey.
It is notable that developing economies are significantly more positive about the gainful effects of AI, with 83% of them expecting an increase, compared with just six out of ten respondents in advanced economies. Financial services respondents report particularly high levels of virtual assistant adoption (48%), but they’re also using predictive analytics (38%) and machine learning (36%). The public sector, meanwhile, has particularly high levels of machine learning adoption (34%)Overall, AI is on course to transform the global economy and organizations around the world have high hopes for its potential. As per the report, in 2017 the global economy recorded its best performance in six years and looks set for sustained growth in the coming months.
