First Swiss AI Report on the use of artificial intelligence
The Swiss AI Report will be presented at the leading Swiss conference in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AiCon), which will take place on June 7-8 at the Seedamm Center Pfäffikon. The Swiss AI Report claims to be the first to systematically analyze the use and development of artificial intelligence in Swiss companies.
For the Swiss AI Report, published for the first time, 92 Swiss companies of various sizes were surveyed. The report was commissioned by the Canton of Schwyz and compiled by the think tank W.I.R.E and the Mindfire Foundation.
Swiss AI Report still finds a lot of catching up to do
The result reveals clear trends. AI is a strategic core topic in the companies. This is not a matter of course for a new technology topic, write the authors of the report. However, 56 percent of the companies still see themselves at level 1 of 5 in terms of the effective degree of automation. 47 percent of respondents do not yet see AI supporting their core business. Swiss companies are therefore still at the beginning of the development towards the systematic use of artificial intelligence, according to the Swiss AI Report.
At the same time, many companies want to invest in AI technologies. 75 percent intend to spend up to one million on it next year, 20 percent of the companies up to 5 million. The will to position themselves in the AI environment is particularly evident among large companies. Only around 10 percent of SMEs that proactively deal with AI applications also have a fixed AI budget. Among large companies, the figure is as high as 40 percent.
Fruitful cooperation between science and business
The report also concludes that it is very pleasing to see that cooperation between business and science in Switzerland is working. According to the report, two-thirds of the companies surveyed maintain a partnership with universities in the AI context. Just as many want to build the technical foundations for the successful use of AI themselves. Only 8 percent want to purchase these completely. Accordingly, the best talents are being courted. In view of the shortage of skilled workers, around half of the companies already offer internal training on AI.
Many Swiss companies are apparently also aware of the risks inherent in the use of artificial intelligence. For example, 45 percent fear erroneous results when using artificial intelligence as a result of an inadequate data basis or subjective bias when training the algorithms. It is striking that only just 3 percent of respondents express concerns of an ethical nature. Also, only 1.2 percent see the growing energy demand and ecological sustainability in connection with the use of AI as a major challenge.
Source and further information: ai-con.ch / www.thewire.ch
