"Has your team adopted AI yet?"

Statistics Canada unveils some frightening numbers for expectations on AI use for Canadians businesses over the next year.

Canada, although considered 'developed', is still facing significant challenges when it comes to AI adoption in business and government operations.

Canada has become one of the slowest, if not the slowest developed nation in the world to adopt AI, albeit our profound influence on AI research in the past.

Only a paltry 10.6% of Canadian businesses are planning to implement AI over the next 12 months.

While a staggering 71.8% have no plans to implement AI at all.

With everything else happening with Canada's economy, from labour issues to real estate markets, the absence of AI adoption only exacerbates our productivity issues.

But there is still hope.

Our team here at Peak Demand has learned that AI adoption, specifically for Canadians, is more of a psychological journey rather than one marred by technical barriers.

Many Canadians we've spoken to simply don't understand the technology, and therefore, overlook it or even fear it.

The adoption process for Canadians accelerates considerably after framing AI use cases that are contextually relevant, and borderline ready for implementation, at the very beginning of their learning journey.

In more simpler terms "Canadians need to see perfect use cases and AI examples that are extremely specific their lives and worlds, before considering the benefits of this technology."

This caution towards AI technology will hurt us over the long term when it comes to competition and productivity.

That is why our team is trying to make the adoption process as simple, straightforward, and guided as possible for our Canadian clients.

Because falling behind in this global context is like a frog that will boil our economy in warm water.

Slowly and unknowingly.

If your team is still trying to figure out how to implement AI within your organisation, feel free to schedule a discovery call with us.

There are now millions of use cases across all industries and sectors, it's just a matter of aligning those use cases, and tools, with your vision.

We are here to help.

Alex, Peak Demand

alex@peakdemand.ca

TEXT +1 (647) 691-0082 to chat with Peak Demand assistant, Sasha.

or

Email to sasha@info.peakdemand.ca

A summary of the article is included below.

Original Article: Analysis on expected use of artificial intelligence by businesses in Canada, third quarter of 2024

Link to Original Article: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-621-m/11-621-m2024013-eng.htm

Summary: The Statistics Canada article reveals a concerning trend regarding the expected use of artificial intelligence (AI) among Canadian businesses over the next 12 months. As of the third quarter of 2024, only 10.6% of businesses plan to implement AI in their operations, a stark contrast to the 6.1% that reported using it in the past year. This limited adoption is especially prominent in sectors like information and cultural industries, where interest is highest at 29.7%. However, a significant 71.8% of businesses indicated that AI is not relevant to their operations, with barriers such as a lack of knowledge and maturity of the technology cited as key reasons for non-adoption. Despite these challenges, businesses that do plan to use AI primarily intend to focus on applications like text and data analytics, but the overall outlook suggests a frighteningly low level of AI integration within the Canadian business landscape compared to global trends.

Key Takeaways

1. Current Adoption of AI: By mid-2024, approximately 6.1% of businesses had implemented AI in their operations, reflecting a growing recognition of AI's potential to improve efficiency and innovation.

2. Future Plans for AI Use: Looking ahead, 10.6% of all businesses plan to adopt AI within the next 12 months. This uptake is notably higher in the information and cultural industries (29.7%), professional, scientific and technical services (24.6%), and arts, entertainment, and recreation (18.5%).

3. Barriers to AI Adoption: The majority of businesses (71.8%) do not plan to use AI, primarily citing reasons such as irrelevance to their operations (74.2%) and lack of knowledge about AI capabilities (9.3%). Concerns over maturity, privacy, and security also contribute to hesitance.

4. Common AI Applications: Among businesses intending to use AI, text analytics (27.2%) and data analytics (26.7%) are the most planned applications. Other anticipated uses include marketing automation (19.4%) and machine learning (18.8%).

5. Industry Variation in AI Applications: AI applications vary by industry, with businesses in information and cultural sectors focusing heavily on data analytics and marketing automation. In contrast, those in professional services emphasize machine learning and text analytics.

6. Impact on Employment Levels: Most businesses (69.2%) expect no change in employment levels following AI adoption, although 9.4% anticipate a decrease. Smaller businesses generally expect more job growth compared to larger enterprises.

7. Investment in Training: Nearly half (48.7%) of businesses planning to implement AI intend to train existing staff in its use. Other expected changes include developing new workflows (43.7%) and investing in cloud services (25.2%).

8. Business Size and AI Plans: Larger businesses (100+ employees) are more likely to plan for AI implementation (20.0%) than smaller ones. They also anticipate more complex AI applications like data analytics and robotics process automation.

9. Methodology: The findings are based on a survey conducted from July 2 to August 6, 2024, with a sample of 21,049 businesses, yielding responses from 9,031 organizations.