A majority of Irish business leaders believe that generative AI (GenAI) will have a positive effect on Ireland’s economy but opinion is divided on job growth and AI readiness, according to a survey from PwC Ireland.
The accountancy firm’s ‘GenAI Business Leaders Survey’ tracks the responses of nearly 100 business leaders in Ireland, having first launched in November 2023.
The headline findings from the survey include over three-quarters (77%) of respondents believing that GenAI will have a positive impact on Ireland’s economy in the future, a 3% rise from November 2023.
Eight out of ten (83%) expect GenAI to have a positive effect on their businesses in the next five years, up from 74% in 2023. However, only 26% can point to AI initiatives that they have implemented that have increased efficiency.
While a majority of respondents (55%) believe that GenAI will have a positive or net-zero effect on job growth, this is a sharp fall from the 83% reported last November. Similarly, nearly half (46%) do not plan to use GenAI to address labour shortages or increase automation, down from 70% last year.
The scale of AI implementation is proving challenging for business leaders, with just 7% reporting that they have “widespread or full adoption of AI technologies” in their businesses right now, unchanged from 2023.
However, businesses are starting to explore and plan for GenAI implementation: 86% of respondents said that they are either at the early stages of exploration, testing or partial implementation stages of AI adoption, up from 54% last year.
Key uses for those who have made steps to implement AI include: cyber defence (34%), IT development (22%), improving collaboration (17%), sales and marketing (12%) and enhancing supply chains (10%).
David Lee, CTO of PwC Ireland, said that 2024 is proving to be a “moving year” for AI, stating that there has been a “marked increase” in the number of companies testing or piloting AI implementation, even in the face of low numbers of “fully deployed solutions”.
“This increase in activity levels also highlights the importance of having the appropriate governance in place to safely deploy AI related technologies.
“While there is evidence that more organisations have plans in place to address this, there is more work to be done to give effect to these plans. This will be increasingly important in the context of the new EU AI Act,” Lee said.
However, the vast majority of companies see increased risk with AI implementation, with 91% believing that AI will increase cybersecurity risk in the next year. Other risks include legal liabilities and reputation risks (79%), the spread of misinformation (74%) and bias towards specific groups of customers or employees (59%).
While 75% of respondents plan to have GenAI governance structures in place, up from 56% last year, just 7% have realised this aim.
This follows a similar theme related to trust, with 74% believing that AI implementation will not improve trust with shareholders, and less than three out of ten (28%) thinking that GenAI will lead to safe and secure outcomes.
“Good governance, grounded in an organisation’s risk appetite, provides clarity and a safe environment for the business to innovate and explore AI uses. The business can then focus on faster adoption of AI without exposing it to unnecessary or unforeseen risks,” said Martin Duffy, head of GenAI at PwC Ireland.
“With the majority of Irish business leaders not having confidence that GenAI will enhance their organisation’s ability to build trust, significant focus on implementing governance structures will be critical.
“Good governance of AI systems will soon become a legal requirement under the EU AI Act and is welcomed by the majority of survey respondents. To realise AI’s value responsibly and securely, organisations must establish robust governance frameworks to be able to measure the benefits,” he said.
(Pic: Getty Images)
