(November 6th, 2024) The Swiss economy is opening up to the potential of artificial intelligence. More than half (55%) of companies have begun to incorporate this technology into their activities, according to a survey of 300 SMEs conducted by AXA Insurance and the Sotomo research institute.
While 22% of the small and medium-sized companies surveyed have already fully used artificial intelligence (AI) in at least some projects, a third (33%) are still in the testing phase.
Almost every second SME (48%) uses this new technology for translations and 40% for writing letters and emails. In addition, more than a third (36%) use AI to write advertising copy and 21% use it to generate images. A quarter of companies also use AI tools to optimize their work steps or for data analysis.
Another result: Only 15% of SMEs use artificial intelligence to develop targeted advertising or for customer service, as personal encounters are still clearly preferred and are more difficult to replace.
Almost half (45%) of the companies surveyed have a neutral relationship to these developments, meaning they see AI as neither an opportunity nor a threat to their activities. A third see this as a positive development and 20% are suspicious. The attitude of companies towards this technology depends largely on their size: of companies with more than 50 employees, 52% view AI positively, while for very small companies (5 to 9 people) the figure is only 27%.
Overall, the threat to jobs is limited and mainly affects manufacturing, trade and industry, where almost a fifth of SMEs plan to cut jobs. Only 7% of companies operating in the IT and communications sectors draw one
