It’s something that is being observed around the world as businesses struggle to understand how they can benefit from this technology without compromising their core values or losing out on potential customers due to fears about data security and privacy breaches.

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has become increasingly prevalent in the business world. However, despite this increased adoption, many small to medium sized businesses are still reluctant to take advantage of AI for fear of disruption. It’s something that is being observed around the world as businesses struggle to understand how they can benefit from this technology without compromising their core values or losing out on potential customers due to fears about data security and privacy breaches. However, new research suggests that those fears may be unfounded and could harm British SMEs by holding them back from embracing AI at all levels of their business operations.

What is AI?

AI, or artificial intelligence, is a broad term that covers many different technologies. AI is not a single technology but rather a combination of them. AI has been around for over 60 years and its applications continue to grow in number and complexity every day.

In simple terms, AI refers to computer systems capable of performing tasks normally requiring human intelligence. More specifically, it deals with the ability of computers to mimic humans in making decisions based on data (often without human supervision).

The Benefits of AI

AI can help businesses improve productivity, become more efficient and save time and money. The benefits of AI include:

  • Improved productivity – AI can automate repetitive tasks so that employees are free to focus on higher value work, which means a better return on invested human capital
  • Increased efficiency – AI allows you to complete tasks faster and more accurately than before
  • Reduced costs – by automating mundane processes, businesses reduce the number of people involved in these jobs meaning that they don’t have to pay for as many labour resources or pay workers at similar rates as their competitors

Is AI safe?

You might be wondering, is AI safe? This is a good question. As it turns out, this technology isn’t new at all—in fact, it’s been around for quite some time. AI actually refers to a subset of machine learning that can help with tasks that would otherwise be done by humans. There are many ways in which businesses can use AI to automate their processes and make better decisions while saving time and money!

AI is going to play an increasingly important role in the future of business.

The future of business is already being shaped by AI. If you’re not yet convinced, take a look at the statistics:

  • According to research from Accenture, UK businesses are expected to spend up to £2.2 billion on blockchain technology in 2022 – up from just £100 million in 2017.
  • 68% of organisations have invested in AI or robotics over the last three years, according to research from PwC.
  • According to research from Oxford Economics, AI could boost UK GDP by about £65 billion per annum by 2030.

SMEs are no exception when it comes to embracing new tech and using it for their advantage – as we saw earlier this year with a study showing that SMEs are embracing automation more than any other sector.

Transforming business and the British economy

The finding that 37% of companies have already seen the transformative impact of AI shows just how much the technology is already impacting the British economy. In fact, a third of companies say that AI has transformed their business, while almost half believe it will revolutionise their industry in five years’ time.

It’s no surprise that UK businesses are keen to embrace these opportunities; according to Accenture research into 1,800 executives across 15 countries, Britain has more CEOs who expect to adopt AI than any other nation (45%). The results also suggest that AI could increase productivity by up to 40% and provide an estimated GBP 74 billion boost to the economy by 2030.

One of the most common ways that AI can help businesses is by automating repetitive tasks, which frees up your staff to focus on more important work. Automating these tasks makes it easier for your employees to manage their workloads, as well as freeing them up from having to perform monotonous tasks like data entry or making calls in a language they don’t understand. This will allow you and your team members to focus on improving other aspects of your business like customer service or increasing revenue through new sales channels.

Another thing that small businesses should know about the benefits of AI is that it can be used to replace humans in certain roles such as customer service calls or face-to-face meetings with prospects if they’re not equipped with these skillsets yet (or ever). This means that companies won’t have any overhead costs associated with employing someone who has those skillsets either!

As we’ve seen, AI is a technology that can be used in many different ways. It’s not just about robots taking over the world – it’s also about helping small businesses become more efficient and productive by automating repetitive tasks and learning how to replace humans in these roles. The results of this survey show just how much potential there is for AI in British SMEs, but there is still much work left to be done before we see its full impact on our economy.