During the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting, the Deloitte AI Institute has unveiled the first wave of a quarterly survey, which explores how actions taken now will guide how Gen AI adoption unfolds and if its benefits are fully realized. More than 2,800 Director to C-suite level respondents across six industries and 16 countries have been surveyed.

“We’re in the early days of a major technological transformation with Gen AI beginning to drive a wave of innovation across industries,” says Joe Ucuzoglu, Deloitte Global CEO. “The speed, scale, and use cases of Gen AI are breathtaking. Business leaders are under an immense amount of pressure to act, while ensuring appropriate governance and risk mitigation guardrails are in place.”

Respondents report feeling generally prepared when it comes to strategy and technology infrastructure, but they have lower confidence related to talent, governance, and risk, which are seen as significant barriers to AI adoption. Only 22% of respondents believe their organizations are “highly” or “very highly” prepared to address talent-related issues related to Gen AI adoption. And many are not yet focused on education and reskilling—only 47% of organizations agree that they are sufficiently educating their employees on the capabilities, benefits, and value of Gen AI. 

Leaders worry that Gen AI will drive greater economic inequality

Although the leaders surveyed are generally excited and enthusiastic about Gen AI’s potential business benefits, they are less optimistic about its broader societal impacts. More than half of respondents expect widespread use of Gen AI to centralize power in the global economy (52%) and increase economic inequality (51%). Additionally, 49% of respondents believe the rise of Gen AI tools/applications will erode the overall level of trust in national and global institutions.

To help address these concerns, the majority of respondents agree there is a need for more global regulation (78%) and collaboration (72%) to manage the responsible widespread adoption of Gen AI.

“Today, Gen AI is at an inflection point where organizations are just beginning to recognize its potential but are yet to see it as a growth catalyst for business. Organizations need to consider Gen AI in conjunction with other AI and technology tools to drive business growth,” says Deborshi Dutt, Artificial Intelligence Strategic Growth Offering lead and principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP. “To help accelerate their path to Gen AI value, organizations should start to reimagine and reinvent how they conduct business to stay ahead in this transformative landscape, while managing risks appropriately. This will require increased collaboration across organizations to foster trust in the responsible and widespread adoption of Gen AI, and a strong focus on education and reskilling people for how this technology is expected to alter how we each work, learn, and collaborate.”

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Source: Deloitte US