Business leaders urged to be ‘open minded’ towards AI: ACCI
Australian businesses need to consider the potential AI adoption can provide for long-term growth, development and success, according to new research by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
New research by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) supports the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) for business growth in productivity, efficiency and flexibility.
The research comes on the back of the federal government’s recently announced proposed guardrails for using AI in the workplace.
ACCI said the report, Accelerating the Potential of AI in Business, “analyses and synthesises” recent data from a wide variety of associations to demonstrate the benefits of rapidly evolving technology.
“The report analyses and synthesises feedback and recent data from a wide variety of businesses and industry associations, and provides insights into how AI is perceived by business, the barriers to using the technology, and the steps needed to integrate AI into the workplace,” ACCI said.
The Business Council of Australia (BCA) has also supported ACCI and the federal government in the push for businesses to leverage the capabilities of AI.
BCA chief executive Bran Black said the government’s proposal paper on AI and ACCI’s report on the business potential for AI adoption is a step in the right direction.
“Australia needs to adopt an AI framework that safeguards the community, while also encouraging businesses to use this technology which will increase productivity,” Black remarked.
“Productivity in Australia is at its lowest point in decades, and AI provides a major opportunity for workers and businesses to be more productive and share in the resulting economic benefits.”
According to the ACCI study, very few large businesses are fully leveraging AI for their business or strategic advantage, despite 60 per cent of business leaders believing AI will “rival the creation of the internet”.
The report said AI adoption in larger businesses is becoming more widespread, yet they are still in the early-to-middle stages of their AI journey.
For these businesses, the biggest barriers to moving from planning to implementation is data management and an AI adoption strategy.
“Fifty-nine per cent of corporate functions have AI implementations in-process or completed, and only 34 per cent of departments are planning AI implementation,” the report said.
“Fifty-five per cent are currently making changes to their business models but no consensus on AI adoption strategy.”
It was reflected one of three businesses were “struggling” to keep up with technology changes, which was specifically highlighted as the main concern in the accountancy sector.
In a broad sense, research showed that businesses are somewhat aware of what AI is and what it can do, with 38 per cent having indicated a basic understanding but an inactive adoption strategy.
ACCI chief executive Andrew McKellar said the attitude towards AI adoption needs to change to be more proactive.
“AI adoption has the power to fundamentally improve productivity and enhance flexibility to ways of working in the near term, with benefits to business and workers,” he said.
Overall, 90 per cent of large businesses see the benefit of increased use of automation in order to make business operations more efficient.
McKellar said Australia’s large businesses need skills, leadership and a sense of optimism to successfully embrace the new shift to AI and the opportunities it can provide.
