Over a third of business leaders predict future job cuts from AI

While most Australian businesses have yet to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI), 36 per cent say that AI will or has already replaced human employees.

A recent survey of 79,000 businesses across Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and the UK by the Peninsula Group has exposed the AI fears, hopes – and, most prominently – the uncertainties of Aussie business leaders.

How do Aussie small-business owners perceive the role of AI?

Thirty-seven per cent of small-business owners in Australia believe AI can positively transform workplaces.

Of surveyed countries, “Australia leads the way with 41 per cent of businesses currently using AI in some way or another, compared to New Zealand where only 35 per cent of businesses have started to use AI”.

Despite this, many business owners are unsure of what to make of the role of AI, while others hold negative views.

Thirty-nine per cent of small Australian business owners are either fearful of the unknown impact of AI (14 per cent), believe it will have a negative impact on businesses (13 per cent), or think it will be highly detrimental and hope it is not widely adopted (12 per cent).

How are Australian businesses using AI?

In Australia, businesses that are using AI are doing so for the following reasons:

1. Administrative tasks like drafting agendas, documents, emails, or letters (49 per cent)
2. Creative writing (36 per cent)
3. Drafting internal or company communications (25 per cent)

Not only is AI being used across more business functions, but different sectors are continuing to find ways to make use of it.

“AI is increasingly being used in critical sectors like mining, agriculture and health in Australia,” said CSIRO.

For those who are making use of it, how effective has it been?

When it comes to measuring the success of AI, half of Australian business owners do not know what to think, as 50 per cent of respondents were unsure of its impact.

This result echoes the earlier Responsible AI Index 2022 report conducted by Fifth Quadrant and the Responsible Metaverse Alliance, which found that most Australian chief executives when asked how their companies were using AI, were unable to tell or explain the impact.

On the other hand, 22.5 per cent of leaders said AI had made a positive impact on business productivity, while another 20.5 per cent said it was too early to tell.

Despite the many concerns around AI, only 4.5 per cent of respondents said they had noticed many errors and/or a lack of quality in AI deployment.

What is stopping more companies from using AI?

The following were the main concerns of surveyed Australian business owners:

1. Security risks (31 per cent)
2. Increased margin of error (19 per cent)
3. Impact on team’s quality and/or productivity (15 per cent)

Of all surveyed countries, business leaders from Australia were alone in ranking “fear of the unknown” as a top three reason not to adopt.

Further, as noted by CSIRO, “trust is the most important factor in AI deployment in Australia”.

Central to boosting adoption will be finding ways to increase the transparency of AI technology to better keep employers aware of AI processes and to embed ethical and quality control measures in the technology.

“Managers must maintain an accountability for the process,” said Judy Slatyer, leader of the National AI Centre’s Responsible AI Think Tank.

“They must be able to explain why AI is making decisions to the CEO and board.”