Excellent Long-Term Growth Prospects for AI Technologies

Just under five per cent of firms in the German business economy are already using artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in 2018. This share is more than twice as high as it was in 2017. A further two per cent of companies are planning to introduce such technologies in the near future. Despite the fact that user rates have been low, it is likely that the development of AI applications will pick up pace considerably in the future. While 16 per cent of firms have identified AI technologies as a matter of key importance, 31 per cent expect to have AI solutions implemented by 2028.

These are the findings of the Monitoring Report DIGITAL Economy 2018, conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim, in collaboration with Kantar TNS on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. For the report, researchers analysed the digitalisation level of companies in the German economy as well as business attitudes towards artificial intelligence.

The results indicate that the level of information regarding AI technologies is significantly higher than user rates would suggest, with around one third of companies stating that they are well or very well informed about AI. 25 per cent of the firms are either already making use of AI; are planning its implementation; have been dealing with it; or at least consider it important for them. The group of companies that are familiar with AI also have high expectations towards AI and its applications.

Uncertainties concerning the implications of AI in the workplace

Around 75 per cent of companies that are well informed about AI expect these technologies to have a positive or a very positive impact on their own competitiveness within the next five to ten years. Merely four per cent of these companies have a pessimistic outlook, while 22 per cent are uncertain about the effects of AI. In terms of flexibility at the workplace and product quality, firms have very high expectations regarding AI. Around 70 per cent of the companies that are familiar with artificial intelligence expect the effects of AI to be positive or very positive.

Opinions regarding potential employment effects resulting from these technologies vary, however, considerably. While 41 per cent of companies expect the demand for workers to decrease due to AI, 35 per cent expect demand to increase. Given these diverging opinions, approximately 25 per cent of companies that are well informed about AI have difficulties in assessing how AI will impact the demand for jobs within the next five to ten years. “Companies in Germany are placing great expectations on artificial intelligence. Uncertainties remain, however, with regard to what these technologies will be able to do and what implications they might have,” says Professor Irene Bertschek, head of the ZEW Research Department “Digital Economy”.

When it comes to integrating AI technologies into business processes or models, over 60 per cent of those companies that are familiar with AI have expressed concerns about potential risks for data security. Furthermore, more than half of the surveyed companies see security issues, the lack of transparency regarding the results of AI, high initial costs and insufficiently developed solutions as relevant or very relevant obstacles. Around 50 per cent of the companies stated that the lack of qualified workers is significantly impeding the implementation of AI technologies.

For further information please contact:

Prof. Dr. Irene Bertschek, Phone +49 (0)621/1235-178, E-mail irene.bertschek@zew.de