Less than a quarter believe their organisation is mature enough to manage the technology
Only one in five Australians consider their organisation as mature in handling artificial intelligence, despite strong encouragement from the workforce to embrace the rapidly evolving technology, according to a new report.
The State of AI in Australia report from V2 Digital surveyed more than 400 professionals in Australia to garner insights on AI adoption across industries and departments.
Steve Tzortzidis, director of Data and AI at V2 Digital, said their findings revealed that businesses are "failing to harness" AI.
"More than four-fifths (86%) agree we should be embracing AI, but organisations are slow to act with only one in five (21%) respondents describing their organisation as mature in AI," said Tzortzidis, also the report of the report, in a statement.
According to the report, the technology industry is ahead on AI maturity (31%), while the government (6.25%) as well as finance and banking (8.9%) are a long way behind.
"The Public Sector isn't keeping up when it comes to AI. Respondents consistently indicated government is failing to embrace AI, highlighting its immaturity and noting that AI isn't seen as a business priority," Tzortzidis said. "Respondents indicated that the use of AI isn't encouraged, and there aren't currently the skills needed within the public sector workforce to future-proof it."
According to Tzortzidis, AI is expected to shape the future "in ways impossible to predict."
"Organisations need a level of data maturity with the right foundations and governance in place to effectively embrace and utilise AI," he advised.
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Barriers to adopting AI
Too many competing priorities has emerged as the top barrier to AI adoption, as cited by 43% of the respondents in the report. Other barriers include:
- Lack of skills (38%)
- Lack of strategy (32%)
- Ethical concerns (28%)
- Regulation and compliance (25%)
- Fear of AI (24%)
- Lack of use cases for AI (22%)
"The data revealed there are too many urgent to-do's on the list, so business leaders are oscillating and struggling to decide what should be ranked number one," said Pete Stanski, chief technology officer at V2 Digital, in a statement.
"Additionally, a whopping 72% of respondents have personally experienced AI bias, which shows it is a prevalent problem that both individuals and businesses need to be aware of and consider when using the technology."
To address the problem, 42% of the respondents said their employers are planning to launch an AI training programme. They also plan to allocate budget on it (40%) and recruit AI-skilled staff (33%).
"By leveraging this report and support from leading AI technology consultants, organisations can chart a course towards AI maturity, driving innovation, efficiency, and sustainable growth in 2024 and beyond throughout Australia," Tzortzidis said.