BY NBC NEWS
The largest corporations in America are always pitching artificial intelligence to potential investors, but recent evidence indicates that very few organizations are really using the technology.
From May, over half of the S&P 500 businesses have discussed artificial intelligence (AI) in their earnings calls, according to a study by NBC News of these conversations. Indeed, the frequency of mentions of AI was on par with that of interest rates and the Federal Reserve. But the fervor isn’t being matched by practical application: According to a November Census Bureau study, just 4.4% of US firms said they have recently used artificial intelligence (AI) to manufacture products or services.
After Open AI released ChatGPT
in November 2022, interest in artificial intelligence skyrocketed. According to NBC News’ investigation, the quarters following the chatbot’s launch saw a sharp increase in the number of references of AI during earnings calls.
Businesses that are praising AI include Salesforce, whose CEO, Marc Benioff, said to investors in August during the company’s second-quarter results call that the business was guiding its clients into “the new AI era.” Additionally, Salesforce’s investment division unveiled a $500 million generative AI fund to finance companies creating AI models, among them Anthropic, Cohere, and Humane.
Enterprises outside the IT sector are also embracing this approach. Walmart and Bath & Body Works both disclosed in November that they were piloting a machine-learning tool that they hoped would help them win back inactive consumers. Walmart also informed investors that they are now exploring AI-powered chat and search services.
According to Brian Nagel, a senior analyst at Oppenheimer & Co.’s consumer and e-commerce division, “I don’t sit on a single call these days where AI isn’t mentioned in some form.” However, from his perspective, Nagel said, the real use of AI by companies is “conservative.”
In reality, according to a Census Bureau study of 200,000 enterprises, just a tiny percentage of these sectors have really used AI in the creation of the items they offer.
What causes the division? According to Nagel, businesses do, to some degree, publicly rely on hype to reassure investors about their commitment to long-term success. However, since the technology is still in its “very, very early stages,” organizations that have long been used to operating in a certain manner may find it difficult to change or come up with useful use cases.
Lack of resources might be a more profound cause.
“Exciting new technological developments do not appear in the economy magically,” according to Kristina McElheran, an associate professor at the University of Toronto who has researched the impact of technology on corporate strategy and performance. Rather, McElheran thinks that firms may use new technology with the aid of funding, personnel acquisition, and education.
In October, McElheran published a research on the adoption of AI in business, which revealed that the high cost of these tools and the low level of proficiency among users prevent many organizations from taking use of them at the moment.
It has two sharp edges. Certain populations may be left behind by the very things that might really advance development and prosperity, according to McElheran.
According to McElheran, early adopters are now concentrated in what she refers to as “superstar” cities, which she claims illustrates a developing “AI divide” between companies and communities that can employ AI technologies and others that can’t.
The CEO of TrueMark Investments, Mike Loukas, is more optimistic about the widespread use of AI in the workplace, projecting that in the next five to ten years, “north of 75%” of enterprises would utilize AI. The warning is that not all of those companies will use AI directly. Rather, Loukas thinks they’ll adopt AI-powered apps that seem recognizable and user-friendly.
A small medical practice, for example, may not have the resources to create an algorithm to customize its patient portal; instead, it can utilize an artificial intelligence-powered questionnaire tool.
According to Loukas, “AI is not going to be doing the work for” the typical company owner. “However, there will be apps that let [them] manage his business more smoothly and efficiently.”
