New survey explores short term impact of generative AI

A survey conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Insight Enterprises finds that within the next three years, most business leaders expect to adopt generative AI to make employees more productive (72%) and enhance customer service (66%).

Around half of the respondents for Insight's generative AI report say they expect to use the technology to assist with research and development (53%) and/or software development/testing (50%).

Matt Jackson, Insight Global Chief Technology Officer, comments, "Generative AI has opened up amazing new possibilities to build companies, to grow companies, and to make companies more efficient and profitable.

"The pace of exploration and adoption of this technology is unprecedented. People are sitting in meeting rooms or virtual rooms discussing how generative AI can help them achieve near-term business goals while trying to stave off being disrupted by somebody else who is a faster, more efficient adopter."

The survey was designed to garner insights on how director level or above professionals at companies with 1,000+ employees are thinking about and exploring generative AI technologies.

Key findings from the survey reveal that:

• 81% say their company already has established or implemented policies/strategies around generative AI or are currently in the process of doing so.
• 90% of professionals believe specific roles will be impacted by the adoption of generative AI, including: Data analyst/data scientist (44%) tops the list of these roles. This is followed by software developer (37%), software tester (37%), financial operations (32%) and communications (30%) roles.
• About half of the respondents expressed concerns about the implementation of generative AI technologies at their organisation, with quality and control (51%) and safety and security risks (49%) topping the list.
• More than 1 in 3 cite concerns that it will limit human innovation (39%), cost of implementation/budgetary constraints (38%), and legal and regulatory compliance (35%). Another 38% have concerns about human error due to a lack of understanding of how to use the tool or accidental breaches of their organisation's data.
• Slightly more than 1 in 4 professionals (26%) say one of their concerns about the implementation of generative AI technologies is workforce displacement.

Jackson says, "Some of the most pressing questions involve generative AIs impact on employees. We are asking ourselves: How do we collaborate with it? How will it change our jobs? Will it replace us? These questions are valid, but the power of generative AI is its ability to augment, not replace, human intelligence.

"History tells us if you give people the right tools, they become more productive and discover new ways to work to their benefit. Embracing this technology gives employees an unprecedented opportunity to evolve and elevate how they work and, for some, even discover new career paths."