Irish medium-sized businesses' confidence in artificial intelligence has increased over the past six months, new research shows.
Grant Thornton's International Business Report shows that the proportion of Irish executives branding AI "over-rated" has dropped from 45% to 23%.
The research shows that more than half of businesses now require staff to follow an AI-usage policy when using Gen AI such as Chat GPT, increasing from 37% just six months ago.
However, six in ten executives say they worry about employees entering sensitive information into AI platforms.
According to the study, a growing number of companies are recognising the ability to spot practical applications for AI.
Only a fifth of mid-sized companies now cite "difficulty determining productive uses" as a challenge, down from almost half six months ago.
Meanwhile, privacy has surged to become the leading barrier to adoption of AI tools.
58% of Irish executives noted privacy as the key challenge their organisation faces in adopting AI, up from 35% in the last survey.
"Over the past six months we’ve heard that Irish mid-size businesses are shifting from cautious experimentation to confident deployment of AI," said Shane O'Neill, Technology and Digital Consulting Partner at Grant Thornton.
"Executives are no longer debating whether the technology is 'over-hyped’.
"They’re writing policies, training staff and embedding tools into day-to-day operations," he added.
Today's research surveyed 10,000 mid-market businesses across 32 countries, including Ireland.
