According to a study, one third of small and medium sized companies think artificial intelligence can positively transform the workplace.
Peninsula Group, a consultancy firm, also found in its survey that 1/10 of SME employers believe AI will be detrimental.
The research, now in its second year of operation, polled 79,000 organizations in five countries: the UK, Australia Canada, Ireland and New Zealand to understand employers’ concerns about AI at work.
Despite a 50% increase in usage, AI is still used by only 1 in 10 SMEs. The most likely employers to regularly use AI are those in Australia and New Zealand, while the least likely are those in Ireland.
Despite the rise in AI use, 60% more people are concerned about its security. Nearly half of respondents said that security risks are their greatest concern when it comes to AI use at work. This is up from 30% last year.
Comparing 2023 to the findings of today, there was also an increase in concerns about reputational impact (183%), risk of breaking law (183%), loss intellectual property (178%), and impact on quality of work and productivity (158%).
The survey also found that employers are more likely to believe that AI will not replace traditional methods of working, despite its usefulness.
A 21% increase in the number of businesses that are afraid of AI was also revealed by the survey. Most of those who had implemented it had done so to perform administrative tasks or for creative writing.
A quarter of respondents were worried about losing their intellectual property (IP), compared to only one in twenty in 2023.
Alan Price, Peninsula Group’s chief operations officer, said: “AI continues dominating the headlines but it is clear that businesses remain unsure about the balance between potential and risk. Concerns increase as usage grows. It is clear that much work needs to be done in order to reassure SMEs all over the world.
While many businesses can see the advantages of AI, concerns about security, productivity and intellectual property still need to be addressed. This is not surprising, as online security and data privacy are top priorities for employers.
A further survey found that less half of SMEs believed people were irreplaceable in their workplaces, while one-fourth thought AI would reduce their headcount.
Canadians appeared to be most cautious for the second year in a row. Only 23% of Canadians believe AI can positively transform the workplace. Over half (53%) of respondents are either afraid of the unknown or unsure whether AI has negative aspects.
Two in five UK SMEs (40%) are concerned about the margin for error AI can bring, compared to 14% at this time last. One in five SMEs that use AI believes it has had a beneficial effect.
Price said: “All employers want to find ways to improve productivity, speed up processes and ultimately increase profits. It’s no surprise that one in four business owners believes AI will reduce their workforce at some point.
The concerns raised by respondents about premature integration, lacks of safeguards and AI being only as good as its programmer are valid points. The technology also has an unconscious bias. Many respondents said they felt AI was ‘racist,”sexist,’ and prone to manipulation. They cited concerns about deep fakes, and the growth in using AI to impersonate or commit fraud.
Price noted that small business owners generally believe AI can help their businesses, but it will also affect the jobs, traditional values and ways of doing things.
He said: “While many are not against AI, they want more clarity and assurance in terms of security and quality output.”
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