by Needed: More people to build systems to reduce the need for people
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We don’t have enough people to build the AI systems that can automate business areas that don’t have enough people.
Ironically, while AI is seen as a labor saver, stepped up to handle low-level or repetitive tasks that are hard to find employees for, the skills gap remains the biggest barrier to AI adoption. . At the same time, AI is also helping organizations address skills shortages.
That’s the word from IBM’s latest study of 7,502 executives around the world, which shows that AI skills shortages aren’t necessarily slowing things down. Currently, 35% of companies report that they use AI in their business, an increase of four points from 2021.
Companies are turning to AI to address labor and skills shortages and drive greater efficiency. Two-thirds of IT professionals report that their company is using automation tools to reduce manual or repetitive tasks. Nearly half of IT professionals overall report that their company is currently using or considering automation software or tools to drive greater efficiency in IT operations (46%) and business operations (46%) and to save costs (45%).
At the same time, the biggest barrier to adoption remains limited AI skills, experience, or knowledge (34%). Such skills must include the ability to explain how the AI arrived at a decision that remains critical to business. Most IT professionals in 2021 and 2022 say that being able to explain how their AI arrived at a decision is important to their business. Lack of skills and training to build and manage trusted AI (63%) and AI governance and management tools that don’t work across all data environments (60%) are the biggest barriers companies face to develop an AI that is explainable and trustworthy.
The charts below illustrate the most compelling use cases for AI, as well as the main obstacles.
How is your organization using AI and automation to address labor or skills shortages?
- Use automation tools to reduce manual or repetitive tasks 65%
- Using AI-powered solutions to increase employee learning/training by 50%
- Using AI to improve recruiting and human resources 45%
- Using low-code/no-code tools to address skills gaps 35%
What, if anything, is getting in the way of the successful adoption of AI for your business?
- We have limited AI skills, experience, or knowledge 34%
- The price is too high 29%
- We lack tools/platforms to develop AI models 25%
- AI projects are too complex or difficult to integrate and scale 24%
- We have too much data complexity 24%
- We have ethical concerns 15%
AI is indeed a labor saver, but its rise requires training or upgrading in entirely new ways to design, build, and maintain these systems.
