The age of AI is now upon us, and you may have heard people say that "AI will take our jobs." But to what extent has AI actually penetrated our work and lives? In this article, we will introduce the current state of AI adoption in US, and how to use AI in business.

AI (Artificial Intelligence) Adoption Status in US Companies

First, let's look at the state of AI adoption in US companies. A comparison with other major countries sheds light on the current situation in US - UK.

US ranks last among the seven major countries

From an international perspective, the adoption of AI in US is still in its early stages. According to a 2018 survey by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the percentage of active AI players in US was only 39%, far behind China and the United States. However, there was no significant difference with other countries except China, so there is plenty of room for US to catch up.

On the other hand, a 2023 survey by the Data Scientist Society of US revealed that the adoption rate of AI in US workplaces is 13.3%, significantly lower than the 30.2% in the U.S. In addition, the percentage of people actually using AI in their work is low at 6.2% in US, suggesting room for improvement.

Introduction and operation are lagging in almost all industries

In terms of the adoption of AI by industry in US, some industries lag behind internationally. According to a 2018 BCG survey, 60% of US companies are active AI players, particularly in the technology, media, and communications industries, but this is about 10 percentage points lower than the seven-country average of 71%.

In US's financial industry, the AI ​​active player ratio is also 42%, 10 percentage points lower than the seven-country average, but the gap is even larger in consumer and industrial goods industries, at 35% and 32%, respectively, which are 15% to 23 percentage points behind the seven-country average. These figures show that the use of AI is particularly sluggish in consumer and industrial goods industries. Each industry in US is required to make further efforts to actively introduce and utilize AI technology.

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Why is AI adoption slow in US companies?

There was a time when US was evaluated as a "technology powerhouse" and a "manufacturing powerhouse." However, in the field of AI, US is lagging far behind. The current situation is that US is far behind the United States and China, which are at the forefront in terms of awareness of use, technological capabilities, number of companies, and number of human resources.

1. Low awareness of AI usage

According to the results of a survey on the use of AI in the workplace, US had the lowest percentage of people who answered "we use AI" among the 10 countries surveyed. In addition, when asked whether AI is currently being used in the workplace, only 29% of people in US answered "yes," compared to the global average of 50%. Furthermore, it has been found that US people have vague concerns about AI. Anxiety about AI may be a factor in the low usage rate.

2. Low AI technology

When comparing technological capabilities by the number of papers, the number of papers on AI technology in US is less than a quarter of that in the U.S. The number of patents is also far behind, with China in first place with 6,858 applications and the U.S. in second place with 5,956 applications, while US has only 808 applications.

3. There are few AI companies

According to a report by China's Tsinghua University, US has 40 AI companies, ranking 11th in the world. Although this may seem like a relatively high ranking, it is far behind other developed countries, with the United States in first place having 2,208 companies and China in second place having 1,011 companies. Furthermore, the only company in US to be selected for the AI ​​100 (100 promising AI companies) is HACARUS.

4. Lack of AI talent

Next, let's look at AI talent from the perspective of the number of researchers involved in AI technology. In 2018, the number of researchers who presented English papers at major AI conferences such as the international academic conference NeurIPS was first in the United States (10,295 people), followed by China (2,525 people), with US ranking sixth (805 people). Additionally, only eight US people made it onto the list of the "2,000 World-Class AI Researchers" published by China's Tsinghua University. Compared to the top two countries, the United States and China, US has not achieved as much.

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Read more: How to Use AI Tools Effectively as a Business Owner

Three reasons why US companies need to introduce AI (artificial intelligence)

Why is the introduction of AI becoming essential for US companies now? Here are three main reasons.

1. Rapid economic growth is expected

The main reasons why the introduction of AI promotes economic growth are "efficiency" and "improved productivity." According to a report by the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, the active introduction of AI by domestic companies is predicted to have an economic effect of up to 34 trillion yen by 2025. This economic effect is estimated to lead to an increase in productivity per person, specifically an improvement of 5.4 million yen to 6.1 million yen.

The introduction of AI to streamline business processes that are currently primarily manual and carried out by humans, and to transform them into new business processes that utilize AI, can be said to be the key to achieving growth for companies and the economy as a whole.

2. The "2025 Cliff" problem is expected to be solved

The 2025 Cliff is a problem predicted to result in US companies facing annual losses of up to 12 trillion yen if they fail to upgrade their legacy systems.

According to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's DX report, the key to solving this problem is the introduction of innovative technologies, including AI. Many companies have separate systems in place for different departments, making it difficult to utilize integrated data and increasing maintenance and operation costs.

If companies proactively pursue digital transformation (DX), modernize their systems, and improve operational efficiency, they can eliminate dependency on individuals and overcome the 2025 data cliff.

3. Preparing for the "2040 Problem"

The 2040 problem is a socio-economic issue unique to US that will arise as the baby boomer generation ages and the low birthrate and aging population continues to progress. The decline in the working population and the increase in social security costs will have a major impact on the management of local governments. The introduction of AI and robotics technology is considered important in addressing this issue.

The government has proposed the realization of "smart municipalities," which will hopefully transform traditional manual tasks into systems supported by AI and robots. Specifically, it is hoped that the 2040 problem can be solved by building a system that allows municipalities to maintain their functions with fewer staff by promoting the automation and efficiency of administrative tasks.

Benefits of Introducing AI

In US, AI tends to be seen as something to be worried about. However, it is true that AI is a tool that should be actively introduced, especially in US, which is facing a declining population. Here are eight benefits of introducing AI.

1. Increased Productivity

AI can maintain a consistent quality of work at all times. For humans, the quality of work can be affected by physical condition and motivation. However, AI can always perform work at a high level without fluctuating factors such as differences in experience or physical condition.

2. Reduce costs

Food manufacturer Nestle introduced the AI-OCR service and achieved a 50% cost reduction. Previously, they processed faxed purchase orders manually. However, this not only took time, but also had the risk of missing information. After introducing AI-OCR, they were able to reduce the time it took to process purchase orders from 250 hours to 125 hours, which is half the time.

3. Increased sales

In the retail and manufacturing industries, prices were set based on the experience and intuition of the person ordering the products. However, from now on, it will be possible to use AI to achieve highly accurate predictions based on past data. Not only will this increase accuracy, but it will also reduce the time it takes to set prices, improving work efficiency.

4. Improved safety

With the development of AI technology, autonomous driving technology has made great strides. It is now possible to have machines equipped with autonomous driving technology take over dangerous work and places where humans cannot enter, such as disaster sites. AI also improves the safety of our lives by detecting early deterioration of infrastructure and predicting the onset of diseases.

5. Improved convenience

AI can also solve communication issues. Chatbots are now commonly seen when inquiring about companies. The advent of these programs has made it possible to make inquiries 24 hours a day, greatly improving customer convenience.

6. Effective use of human resources

Monotonous tasks performed by humans over long periods of time are a heavy workload. Monotonous tasks are an area where AI excels, and it often surpasses human output in every aspect, including efficiency, cost, and quality of output.

7. Improved customer satisfaction

The benefits of introducing AI also extend to customers. Let's look at some examples of AI being introduced to call centers. AI can be used to distribute customers using automatic voice recognition, improve the searchability of manuals, and more. With an AI system, customers can shorten response times and receive a high level of support.

8. Eliminating labor shortages

As you all know, AI can take over tasks that have been performed by humans. It is especially suitable for monotonous tasks that require long hours of work, and tasks that require analysis and prediction. By introducing AI, it can help to improve efficiency and reduce the risk to workers, even in industries with harsh working conditions known as the 3K.

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Summary

AI is a tool that should be introduced immediately for US, where the population continues to decline. However, in US, there is little awareness of its use due to concerns about AI. For this reason, if you are one step ahead of your competitors and introduce AI, you will be able to improve your performance. Introducing AI often requires capital investment and labor costs, but EDUTO SOFTWARE allows you to introduce AI at minimal cost. Why not take this opportunity to consider introducing it?