The recent surge of interest in generative AI has been fuelled in part by the buzz surrounding ChatGPT, the popular language model developed by OpenAI, said a survey. In a recent Gartner poll of over 2,500 executive leaders, 45% of respondents reported that the publicity of ChatGPT has prompted them to increase their artificial intelligence (AI) investments.
As organisations race to capitalise on the promise of generative AI, they are grappling with a host of questions about how to invest wisely, which products to pursue, and how to mitigate the risks that come with this emerging technology.
According to Frances Karamouzis, Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner, “Generative AI has quickly become one of the hottest areas of investment in the technology sector. Organisations are scrambling to determine how much cash to pour into generative AI solutions, when to get started, and how to mitigate the risks that come with this emerging technology.”
The poll found that 70% of executives stated their organisation was in investigation and exploration mode with generative AI, while 19% were in pilot or production mode. While 68% of executives believed that the benefits of generative AI outweigh the risks, only 5% of respondents felt the risks outweigh the benefits. However, as investments deepen, executives may begin to shift their perspective, said Karamouzis.
Despite ongoing economic headwinds, the poll found that only 17% of executives indicated cost optimisation as the primary purpose of generative AI investments. Customer experience was the most common primary focus of investments, cited by 38% of respondents, said the Gartner survey.
As organisations begin experimenting with generative AI, many are starting with use cases such as media content improvement or code generation. However, generative AI has vast potential to support solutions that augment humans or machines and autonomously execute business and IT processes, the report said.
“Autonomous business, the next macrophase of technological change, can mitigate the impact of inflation, talent shortages, and even economic downturns,” explains Karamouzis. “CEOs and CIOs that leverage generative AI to drive transformation through new products and business models will find massive opportunities for revenue growth.”
While organisations invest in generative AI, they must also be prepared to address trust, risk, security, privacy, and ethical questions. These concerns will need to be addressed as organisations start to develop and deploy generative AI, said Gartner.
