Most global leaders believe that generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) will transform their organization in the next three years, according to a study by a consulting company.
How global leaders think AI will transform their company – Photo Archive
Specifically, eight out of ten global leaders believe that AI technology will transform their organization in the next three years, according to Deloitte research “The State of Generative AI in the Enterprise: Now decides next“, quoted by Agerpres.
More than half of respondents say they will focus primarily on the tactical benefits of technology, such as improving efficiency and productivity (56%) and reducing costs (35%). On the other hand, areas considered strategic, including encouraging innovation (29%) and discovering new ideas and information (19%), are not treated as priorities, the research suggests.
The responses indicate the lack of employees with technical skills as the biggest barrier in the process of adopting Gen AI. Only 22% of leaders believe that organizations are well or very well prepared to solve the problematic aspects related to human capital that the adoption of Gen AI generates.
Moreover, few respondents focus on education and retraining, with 47% of organizations claiming that they sufficiently teach their employees about the functions, benefits and value generated by Gen AI. However, the first generation of Gen AI experts is expected to focus on educating and reskilling employees and attracting human capital with technical skills to manage Gen AI initiatives. For example, 74% of respondents who have extensive Gen AI expertise say they train their employees, compared to 27% of respondents who have “some” expertise.
“Developing the necessary skills will become a priority for organizations looking to start transforming with AI solutions, and as the report points out, it's important for leaders to have a beginner's attitude in this field. In other words, to create a culture of constant learning, given that new models, functions and ways of using technology appear at a rapid pace, to aim to increase the degree of knowledge of Gen AI throughout the organization and to approach an interdisciplinary way to implement Gen AI projects“, conveyed Andrei Ionescu, consulting market leader, Deloitte Romania.
Other barriers in the adoption process of Gen AI are governance and risk management, according to the study. Only a quarter of participants (25%) believe that organizations are well or very well prepared to address these challenges. Respondents' biggest governance concerns are lack of trust in outcomes (36%), intellectual property risks (35%), misuse of customer or consumer data (34%), ability to comply with regulations (33%) and lack of transparency (31%). Regarding the most frequent risks, organizations cite the results and erroneous information (“hallucinations“), legal aspects such as plagiarism, copyright infringement and error liability, confidentiality and data ownership.
However, progress is being made in the management of risks related to Gen AI, the research points out, even if their share is small. Some of the organizations participating in the study are already actively managing risks resulting from the implementation of Gen AI through actions such as monitoring regulatory requirements and ensuring compliance (47%), establishing a governance framework for Gen AI (46%) and conducting internal audits and tests on Gen AI tools and applications (42%).
The need for regulation
The risks associated with Gen AI are leading many leaders to call for a robust regulatory framework and global cooperation. Eight in ten leaders who participated in the study (78%) said there is a need for more government regulation related to AI, while seven in ten (72%) said there is currently not enough global collaboration to to ensure responsible development of AI-based systems.
Recently, the EU adopted a document for the regulation of artificial intelligence, which should prevent it from replacing humans and destroying the credibility of digital content. It is the first law that aims to regulate the field of AI.
In terms of the tactical benefits offered by Gen AI, most organizations still rely on off-the-shelf solutions, such as applications that integrate Gen AI to increase productivity (71%), off-the-shelf applications (68%), enterprise platforms ( 61%) and technologies based on publicly available large language models (LLM) (56%). Relatively few organizations use specific solutions based on Gen AI, such as industry-specific software applications (23%), private LLMs (32%) and/or open-source LLMs customized for them (25%) .
The Deloitte Report “The State of Generative AI in the Enterprise: Now decides next” was conducted between October and December 2023, among more than 2,800 business and technology leaders with AI expertise, directly involved in managing or implementing Gen AI in large organizations from 16 countries and six industries, to analyze how in which Gen AI is integrated into organizations.
