Artificial intelligence is intended to revolutionize businesses. The Austrians are fundamentally open to this. According to the IFDD survey, 57 percent have a positive attitude. The majority also believe that AI will boost the economy. But when it comes to your own company and your own job, there is greater skepticism and job anxiety.
“AI is changing the way we communicate, work and think,” says entrepreneur Josef Mantl, who will host the Moving Forward conference in Vienna next week. A study he commissioned shows that companies are more open to AI. According to the IFDD survey, 57 percent have a positive attitude towards AI.
The majority also believe that AI will boost the economy. In short, young and educated people are more open-minded than older people, and men view AI more positively than women. “The fact that young people in particular are open to AI is a good sign, because they will use these tools a lot in the future,” says IFDD boss Christoph Haselmayer. Many of the younger generation also have positive experiences with technology and are therefore less anxious.
Fear of being replaced by AI
In general, it appears that many people are very optimistic when it comes to the general possibilities of AI. But when it comes to your own company or your own job, skepticism increases and job anxiety reigns. “There is also a fear of being replaced, especially among the elderly. Many also fear that AI will cause them more effort than benefit in their professional lives,” says Haselmayer.
The fact is: implementing AI takes resources and is sometimes expensive, which is a deterrent especially for small businesses. In addition, employees also have to adapt and adapt to the new possibilities. “Progress not only brings efficiency and innovation, but also requires us to develop the necessary skills that are essential for the working world of tomorrow,” says Mantl.
37 percent say AI is being used in their business or will be used in the near future. About the same number think AI can bring some benefit to their own business or increase efficiency. More than 70 percent are convinced that AI will bring about a digitalization boost, but there is a lot of uncertainty about what this means for their own company.
But there are many possible applications, including in everyday life. AI bots can simplify writing emails or process information quickly. Many large and smaller companies use AI. Two practical examples: supermarket chain Spar uses it to determine the optimal amount of food in its stores and to prevent waste; and in agriculture it helps to find optimal frost protection.
Larger companies rely more on AI
More and more companies are therefore working to use AI to their own advantage. Another study commissioned by Drei shows that more than one in ten Austrian companies uses AI. This puts Austria in 10th place and in the middle of the European field. It is striking that larger companies in particular use AI. 20 percent of companies with more than 100 employees say this.
But 70 percent of companies believe that AI will not compensate for the lack of staff. Seven in ten companies believe that the use of AI will not be able to compensate for the shortage of personnel. Three-quarters of companies (74 percent) do not believe that personnel costs can be saved by using AI.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
