Over half of Irish executives believe AI will not replace staff

According to new research from PwC, fewer than half of senior Irish executives believe AI can replace their staff.

This figure is down from 70pc from the same PwC survey last year.

It comes after government-backed research this month suggested a third of Irish workers’ jobs are at risk because of AI.

However, a majority of Irish executives surveyed by PwC said that while AI will benefit their business, they have no idea how.

According to the PwC research, 83pc of the executives think AI will have a “positive” or “transformative” impact on their businesses in the next five years.

But only 26pc can actually name any benefit, or “operational efficiency”, coming from the technology.

And just 7pc have implemented AI in their ordinary business operations, the same number as this time last year.

According to the survey, the main Irish company uses for “generative” AI, such as ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude or Google Gemini, are cyber-defence (34pc), IT development (22pc), “improving collaboration” (17p ), sales and marketing (12pc) and “enhancing supply chains” (10pc).

The survey of senior Irish executives also shows that nine out of 10 Irish executives believe AI will increase their cyber-security risks, and four out of five think it will heighten other risks such as legal liabilities and reputation risks (79pc), the spread of misinformation (74pc) and “bias towards specific groups of customers or employees” (59pc).

Despite three-quarters of respondents saying that they intend to put in place AI or generative AI governance structures, only 7pc have done so, according to the PwC research. Most companies welcomed the EU’s AI Act, however.

Nearly three-quarters of survey respondents said that generative Al “will not enhance” their organisation’s ability to build trust with shareholders in the next 12 months.

“With the majority of Irish business leaders not having confidence that GenAl (generative AI) will enhance their organisation’s ability to build trust, significant focus on implementing governance structures will be critical,” said Martin Duffy, head of GenAl, PwC Ireland.

“Good governance of Al systems will soon become a legal requirement under the EU Al Act. To realise Al’s value responsibly and securely, organisations must establish robust governance frameworks to be able to measure the benefits.”