Artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being used in the German economy, but mainly by large companies. The IT industry itself and business-related service providers are among the pioneers.
Small companies are still hesitant to use AI. This is shown by an Ifo short expert report commissioned by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce for Munich and Upper Bavaria. “Companies should invest in training their employees to close knowledge gaps. In addition, the use of AI in small and medium-sized companies should be promoted,” says Ifo study director Oliver Falck.
Around twelve percent of German companies will use at least one type of AI in 2023, according to the Ifo paper. This puts Germany in seventh place in a European comparison, behind countries such as the frontrunners Denmark, Finland, Luxembourg and Belgium (14 percent each), but far ahead of many other EU countries such as Ireland (8 percent) and France (6 percent). The size of the company plays a role here: a third of large companies with more than 250 employees in Germany use AI, while only one in ten small companies do so.
Accelerate AI deployment
German companies use AI particularly in IT security, marketing, production and controlling. Text and data analysis and automation in production are particularly important. Despite the potential for greater efficiency, for example in logistics and medicine, many companies are hesitant. Companies that do not yet use AI cite a lack of expertise (72 percent), difficulties in integrating AI seamlessly into existing business processes (54 percent), and concerns about the legal situation (51 percent) and data protection (48 percent) as the main reasons.
“The widespread use of AI in companies is one of our greatest hopes for the future. With AI, companies can compensate for a lack of workers in the long term and achieve efficiency gains. AI can ensure that our level of prosperity is maintained despite demographic change,” says IHK Managing Director Manfred Gößl. “It is all the more important that we accelerate the use of AI and do not slow it down any further. To do this, companies need legal clarity above all. There must be no additional burdens when implementing the EU requirements into German law. On the contrary, there must be a practical adaptation to the many existing regulations such as the GDPR, the Data Act or the EU Machinery Regulation in order to avoid uncertainty and double burdens on companies.”
Source: www.com-magazin.de
