Most of Ireland's top business leaders have not set out the rules for the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems, despite expecting the technology to transform their businesses.
According to a PwC Ireland survey, only 7% of executives currently have an AI or so-called GenAI governance structure in place, a figure that has barely changed since the last survey was conducted in November. Despite the lack of structure, more than 80% of those surveyed expect “GenAI to have a positive or transformative impact on their business over the next five years.”
More than 90% of the nearly 100 business leaders surveyed said they believe GenAI will increase cybersecurity risks over the next 12 months. They also said the technology could increase other risks, including legal liability, reputational risk, and the spread of misinformation and bias toward certain customer or employee groups. Nearly three-quarters of respondents believe AI will not help efforts to build trust among employees, while less than a third said they were “confident that the processes and controls around GenAI in their organization will lead to safe and secure outcomes.”
This year is “definitely a 'transformative year' for Irish organisations when it comes to AI,” said David Lee, chief technology officer at PwC Ireland. “The increased level of activity also highlights the importance of having the right governance in place to safely deploy AI-related technologies. There is evidence that more organisations are putting plans in place to address this issue, but more work is needed to implement these plans.”
The report expresses great optimism about AI's potential for business, but little concrete impact so far: While nearly 80% of executives expect the technology to enable them and their employees to “improve efficiency,” only a quarter report that it has “achieved operational efficiencies” so far.
“It is vital that processes are in place to ensure appropriate value and return on investment is realised from AI and GenAI initiatives and the survey reveals that there is still significant work to be done in this area,” said Aisling Curtis, market leader for strategic alliances at PwC Ireland.
Still, expectations that AI will lead to job losses over the next few years appear to be growing. About 55% of business leaders don't think AI will lead to net job losses, but that's down from 83% in November. At the time, 70% of leaders didn't plan to use AI to address labor shortages or drive automation. Now, that number has fallen to 46%.
