More than half of Fortune 500 companies see artificial intelligence as a potential threat to their business, according to a new survey of corporate statements that shows how the emerging technology could to drive radical business transformation.
Overall, 56 percent of Fortune 500 companies cited artificial intelligence as a “risk factor” in their most recent annual reports, according to research by Arize AI, a research platform that tracks public statements by major companies. The figure represents a staggering jump from just 9% in 2022.
In contrast, only 33 of the 108 companies that were specifically considering next-generation artificial intelligence – technology capable of creating human-like text and realistic images – saw it as an opportunity. Potential benefits include cost efficiencies, operational benefits and accelerated innovation, the organizations said in their annual reports. More than two-thirds of this group cited next-generation artificial intelligence as a threat.
The disclosures show that the impact of next-generation artificial intelligence is already being felt across a wide range of industries and at most of the largest listed companies in the US.
Predictive machine learning technology has exploded in the past two years, since OpenAI launched its popular chatbot ChatGPT in November 2022. Since then, Big Tech companies have made tens of billions dollars to invest to develop powerful AI systems, and hundreds of startups have emerged. to take advantage of the disruptive opportunity.
Among Fortune 500 companies, AI-related risks cited in annual financial reports this year include increased competition, as boards fear they won’t be able to keep up with competitors who do better use of technology.
Other harms include reputational or operational issues, such as engaging in ethical concerns related to AI’s potential impact on human rights, employment and privacy.
Some industries are more concerned about AI than others.
More than 90% of the largest media and entertainment companies in the US said that rapidly growing artificial intelligence systems are a business risk this year, as did 86% of software and technology organizations.
More than two-thirds of Fortune 500 telecommunications companies and more than half of healthcare, financial services, retail, consumer and aerospace companies issued the same warning to investors.
For example, Netflix, the $290 billion streaming service, warned that competitors could gain an advantage over it by implementing artificial intelligence, which would affect “our ability to compete effectively and that our results of operations would be adversely affected”.
Telecoms group Motorola said: “AI may not always work as intended and data sets may be insufficient or contain illegal, biased, harmful or offensive information, which ‘ could have a negative impact on his earnings and reputation.
Some companies cited financial risks associated with the evolving use of artificial intelligence systems, such as rising and unexpected costs.
Salesforce, a software company valued at $250 billion, said the adoption of AI “reveals emerging ethical issues” related to data collection and privacy. It said its profit margins could be hit by “uncertainty” about emerging AI applications, meaning it would likely have to commit to bigger investments to launch new models. develop and experiment.
The legal, regulatory and cybersecurity risks of AI were also a common theme among Fortune 500 companies.
2024-08-18 06:05:19
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