Peninsula recently completed a survey of how client businesses are engaging with AI.  The results have been interesting and will hopefully provide employers in Ireland with better insight into how companies are interacting with AI. The following information may inform how you use AI as part of your future business model. 356 clients participated in the survey and response figures are based on actual business numbers and not percentage.  

How many Peninsular client companies are currently engaging with AI? 

Of the 356 businesses participating in the survey, there was a high number, 246, who haven’t incorporated AI into their business yet.  87 businesses are starting to use it sporadically while 22 are regularly using AI in their daily practices. Interestingly there was only one participant who stated that AI played a large part in their business. 

What are the key functions business clients are using AI for?

The question asked here with regards the key functions businesses are using AI reveals the different way employers are currently engaging with AI.  74 businesses use AI in an administrative manner while 52 businesses use AI for creative writing.   21 businesses used AI for HR functions while only 11 used AI for customer service and 9 for finance and accounting. Of the 356 businesses participating in the survey, 227 said they are not using AI. 

Key concerns businesses have using AI at work

As part of the survey, businesses were asked about their key concerns using AI in work.  Out of 356 responses, it doesn’t seem surprising that 188 said they are concerned that AI may pose a risk to security.  There has been plenty of literature and films historically which have played on the notion of AI as a potentially deadly threat.  It would be expected that there is going to be possible unconscious bias toward AI. We can have prejudices and bias without full knowledge of it due to the saturation of a particular ideological belief system. How this view of AI as a security risk will shift over time will be interesting to view.  

How businesses describe the role of AI will play in the workforce.

The question here was ‘which statement best describes your view on the role AI will play in the workforce?’ From the 356 businesses surveyed, 96 said that they felt it would have a positive influence.  83 businesses felt that AI would be useful but that it wouldn’t overtake traditional work processes.   Another 83 were fearful of the unknown problems that AI could bring. 65 responses viewed that AI would have some negative influences on the workforce while a smaller number, 29, felt that AI would have a highly detrimental affect on the modern workforce. 

Do you think AI will reduce the number of people employed at your company?

Out of the 356 businesses participating, 3 stated that the use of AI has already reduced the number of people employed at their company. While 4 companies are anticipating that there will be people replaced due to AI usage within the next year. 88 responses anticipated job losses in the future at some point due to their use of AI while 106 were unsure.  155 businesses felt strongly enough on the issue to say that they felt, no, people are irreplaceable when it comes to using or integrating AI in their business. 

What industry did most of the participants work in?

There was a broad range of businesses that participated in the survey. Engineering and manufacturing were the predominant group at 55, while the health and care sector were not far behind at 48, wholesale and retail were at 37, and property and construction at 34.  As can be seen in the graph other participant businesses ranged from leisure, sport, or tourism, charity sector, and public services and administration.  Because of this varied range it is worth thinking about what type of business will be more inclined in the future to use AI as part of their business processes. Engagement with AI for businesses will depend on the very nature of that business.  Perhaps for future consideration it will be worth considering what types of businesses will more typically depend on AI use in the future and what that usage will look like.