A profit fantasy?

Who is using AI in Canada? Just about everybody. Who sees a return? Just about nobody

SOME FORM OF AI adoption among Canadian businesses is near universal, with 93 per cent of businesses surveyed by KPMG recently stating they are using it. But, like we’ve seen elsewhere, AI technology isn’t yet showing any dividends.

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“Despite growing adoption, only two per cent of respondents said their organizations are seeing a return on their generative AI investments,” a report from KPMG said. KPMG managing partner Stephanie Terrill said while organizations are using AI to try to improve productivity, “very few know how to capture productivity gains and turn them into growth.”

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There’s been much concern about a bubble in AI recently, including on the stock market, and this is another report that won’t help advocates of the tech. It’s a concern Terrill brushes off. “That two per cent was disappointing and surprising. I would have hoped and expected it to be higher,” she told The Globe and Mail. “Deploying AI needs to go beyond using AI to draft e-mails. We need to get out of the tinkering and get into the re-engineering and re-architecting of how workloads are processed.”

Yet, despite the lowly returns, the study also found that Canadian businesses sure are enthusiastic about AI, which is expected to consume 10 to 20 per cent of corporate budgets this year for most firms surveyed by KPMG. Whether or not it’s turning a profit, AI is coming regardless, and businesses appear more than willing to play the long game.

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“Only a small sliver of Canadian businesses are generating growth from their AI investments today, and that’s understandable — new technologies take time to be adopted and demonstrate identifiable return on investment,” Terrill said.

But the questions remain about just how patient firms will be. “How long do companies have to wait until AI starts doing what it’s supposed to do?” wrote Gizmodo reporter Lucas Ropek, skeptically. “Hope springs eternal, I guess.” Kieran Delamont