The percentage of companies using AI in the US is still relatively small, but growing rapidly
A new paper by researchers at the U.S. Census Bureau shows that while the percentage of companies using AI in the U.S. is still relatively small, it is growing rapidly, with information technology companies in states like Colorado and the District of Columbia leading the way. It is said that they are doing so.
The overall use of AI tools by companies in the production of goods and services rose to 5.4% in February from 3.7% last fall, and to 6.6% in the U.S. by early fall, according to the bureau's Business Trends and Outlook. is expected to rise. The results of the survey were published this spring.
In an accompanying paper, Census Bureau researchers said that the use of AI by businesses is still quite low because many companies have not yet realized the need for AI.
“Many small and medium-sized businesses, such as barbershops, nail salons, and dry cleaners, may not yet consider leveraging AI, but that could change as AI's business applications expand,” they said. Ta. “One potential explanation is the current lack of AI applications for a variety of business problems.”
Few companies using AI tools reported firing employees because of the tools. In fact, business utilizing AI was expanding more than other companies. They also developed new workflows, trained staff on technology and purchased related services, the researchers said.
AI usage rates by industry ranged from 1.4% in construction and agriculture to 18.1% in information technology. Researchers say large companies are more likely to use the technology than small and medium-sized businesses, but the smallest businesses use it more than medium-sized businesses.
The types of AI jobs most included were used in marketing tasks, customer service chatbots, making computers understand human language, text and data analysis, and speech recognition.
Eric Paul, chief operating officer of an Orlando software development company, generates images for marketing materials, helps with tedious compliance paperwork, and compares different versions of a product's documentation. I've been using AI tools for about a year now.
“It has become an essential part of our time,” Paul said Thursday. “But the problem is, you can't trust it. You can't just blindly copy and paste. In some cases, the context will be ignored, inserting incorrect details that aren't helpful, or changing the tone of the topic you're writing about. You must to do something before you go on.”
Colorado and the District of Columbia, the two places in the country where companies use AI the most, had adoption rates of 7.4% and 7.2%, respectively. These states were closely followed by Florida, Delaware, California, and Washington. Mississippi was the state with the least use of AI, at 1.7% of businesses.
The survey found that there is some uncertainty about whether companies will implement AI in their businesses in the near future or continue using it. Two-thirds of companies not yet using AI report that they expect to remain without AI in the future, and 14% of companies not yet using AI expect to use AI in the future. I answered that I am not sure whether I would use it or not.
Approximately 14% of current users report that they do not expect to continue using AI in the near future, stating that “some degree of ongoing experimentation or temporary use could lead to discontinuation of adoption.” “This may indicate that there is,” the researchers said.
Ron Jarmin, deputy director of the Census Bureau, said Thursday that the bureau plans to continue tracking companies' use of AI.
“As far as I know, we are the first to be in a position to be able to measure the penetration of a general-purpose technology into the economy and see what impact it will have,” Jarmin said.
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