• Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) a key driver for AI uptake – even as trust in AI is high
• Trust in AI is highest in the US at 87%, while France lags at 77%
• Purpose-built AI considered the most trustworthy type of AI at 90%

A new survey from intelligent automation company ABBYY finds that fear of missing out (FOMO) plays a big factor in artificial intelligence (AI) investment, with 63% of global IT leaders reporting they are worried their company will be left behind if they don’t use it.

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Fear of missing out, or “FOMO,” has been found to play a significant role in businesses’ investment in artificial intelligence, even as IT leaders continue to place high trust in AI to benefit their business. Their concerns, goals and plans for AI investment vary globally, revealing distinct priorities that reflect the business landscapes of their respective regions. (Graphic: Business Wire)

With fears of being left behind so prevalent, it is no surprise that IT decision makers from the US, UK, France, Germany, Singapore, and Australia reported that average investment in AI exceeded $879,000 in the last year despite a third (33%) of business leaders having concerns about implementation costs. Almost all (96%) respondents in the ABBYY State of Intelligent Automation Report: AI Trust Barometer said they also plan to increase investment in AI in the next year, although Gartner predicts that by 2025, growth in 90% of enterprise deployments of GenAI will slow as costs exceed value.

Furthermore, over half (55%) of business leaders admitted that another key driver for use of AI was pressure from customers.

Surprisingly, the survey revealed another fear for IT leaders implementing AI was misuse by their own staff (35%). This came ahead of concerns about costs (33%), AI hallucinations and lack of expertise (both 32%), and even compliance risk (29%).

Overall, respondents reported an overwhelmingly high level of trust in AI tools (84%). The most trustworthy according to decision makers were small language models (SLMs) or purpose-built AI (90%). More than half (54%) said they were already using purpose-built AI tools, such as intelligent document processing (IDP).

Maxime Vermeir, Senior Director of AI Strategy at ABBYY, commented, “It’s no surprise to me that organizations have more trust in small language models due to the tendency of LLMs to hallucinate and provide inaccurate and possibly harmful outcomes. We’re seeing more business leaders moving to SLMs to better address their specific business needs, enabling more trustworthy results.”

When asked about trust and ethical use of AI, an overwhelming majority (91%) of respondents are confident their company is following all government regulations. Yet only 56% say they have their own trustworthy AI policies, while 43% are seeking guidance from a consultant or non-profit. Half (50%) said they would feel more confident knowing their company had a responsible AI policy, while having software tools that can detect and monitor AI compliance was also cited as a confidence booster (48%).

On a regional basis, levels of trust were highest among US respondents, with 87% saying they trust AI; Singapore came next at 86% followed by the UK and Australia, both 85%, then Germany at 83%. Lagging was France, with just 77% of respondents indicating they trust AI.

The ABBYY State of Intelligent Automation Report gauged the level of trust and adoption of AI technologies across 1,200 IT decision makers in the UK, US, France, Germany, Australia and Singapore. The study was carried out June 3-12, 2024. Download the full report for additional details at https://digital.abbyy.com/state-of-intelligent-automation-ai-trust-barometer-2024-report-download.

The results of the AI Trust Barometer survey and other topics about the impact of AI-powered automation will be discussed during Intelligent Automation Month; register today at https://www.abbyy.com/intelligent-automation-month/.

About ABBYY

ABBYY puts your information to work with purpose-built AI. We combine innovation and experience to transform data from business-critical documents into intelligent actionable outcomes in over 200 languages in real time. We are trusted by more than 10,000 companies globally, including many of the Fortune 500, to drive significant impact where it matters most: accelerate the customer experience, operational excellence, and competitive advantage. ABBYY is a global company with headquarters in Milpitas, CA and offices in 13 countries, and is the Official Intelligent Automation Partner of Arsenal Women Football Club. For more information, visit www.abbyy.com/company and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

ABBYY can either be a registered trademark or a trademark and can also be a logo, a company name (or part of it), or part of a product name of ABBYY group companies and may not be used without consent of its respective owners.

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