AI investment is set to see an increase as ChatGPT publicity has prompted organisations to take a closer look at the technology.
According to a recent Gartner poll of more than 2,544 executive leaders, 45% reported that the publicity of ChatGPT has prompted them to increase AI investments.
In addition, 70% of executives said that their organisations are in investigation and exploration mode with generative AI, while 19% are in pilot or production mode.
“The generative AI frenzy shows no signs of abating,” said Frances Karamouzis, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner. “Organisations are scrambling to determine how much cash to pour into generative AI solutions, which products are worth the investment, when to get started and how to mitigate the risks that come with this emerging technology.”
Executives: Benefits of generative AI outweigh risks
The poll found that 68% of executives believe that the benefits of generative AI outweigh the risks, compared with just 5% that feel the risks outweigh the benefits.
However, executives may begin to shift their perspective as investments deepen, Gartner pointed out.
“Initial enthusiasm for a new technology can give way to more rigorous analysis of risks and implementation challenges,” said Karamouzis. “Organisations will likely encounter a host of trust, risk, security, privacy and ethical questions as they start to develop and deploy generative AI.”
Customer experience: Primary focus of generative AI investments
Despite ongoing economic headwinds, only 17% of executives indicated cost optimisation as the primary purpose of generative AI investments, the advisory firm said.
Customer experience was the most common primary focus of investments, cited by 38% of respondents, the firm added.
As organisations begin experimenting with generative AI, many are starting with use cases such as media content improvement or code generation, Gartner noted.
While these efforts can be a strong initial value-add, generative AI has vast potential to support solutions that augment humans or machines and autonomously execute business and IT processes, Gartner observed.
“Autonomous business, the next macrophase of technological change, can mitigate the impact of inflation, talent shortages and even economic downturns,” said Karamouzis.
