Small Businesses Aren't Rushing Into AI
June 09 2019 - 7:29AM
Dow Jones News
By Sara Castellanos and Agam Shah
Artificial intelligence over the past decade has shifted from
research theories to actual practices in corporate offices. But it
isn't within the reach of many smaller companies, yet.
The high upfront costs of AI tools, scarcity of people who can
implement the technology at individual operations, and more
pressing IT expenses have widened the gap in AI implementation. But
a range of players, from large technology vendors to startups, are
coming up with tools that allow small businesses to use the
technology without a data scientist on staff.
Still, even with such tools, it can take time for any company,
large or small, to implement a new technology into its business
processes. The operational efficiency of an AI system, while
desirable, is still far from a priority for many companies.
Potato farmer Andrew Mickelsen says he has observed how large
agricultural companies are using AI to sort harvests and make
smarter on-farm decisions. But the Roberts, Idaho-based farmer says
he doesn't have the time or money to make AI a priority on his
30,000-acre farm. Instead, the company relies on it is up to 400
full-time workers to separate the rotten potatoes.
"We can't afford on our own to go and spend all the time and
money to put it together," Mr. Mickelsen said.
Much of the challenge comes from how complex it is to implement
AI and tailor it to a company's needs.
Many small firms looking to use AI have to build everything from
scratch, said Brad Fisher, KPMG's U.S. leader for data analytics
and artificial intelligence. Even then, the firms may lack the
breadth of data to train and test these systems before they are
deployed.
"Deploying AI technologies is a lot more complex than tech
vendors would lead them to believe," Mr. Fisher said.
"Many smaller organizations' IT departments are understaffed,
with IT professionals struggling to deal with more pressing
concerns, such as updating aging hardware, securing corporate
networks and supporting growing tech requests from end users," said
Peter Tsai, senior technology analyst at Spiceworks, a professional
network for IT workers.
Only 21% of small businesses are using AI or plan to use it
within the next two years, compared with 65% of firms with 5,000
workers or more, according to a Spiceworks survey. The results are
based on a survey last year of 780 business-technology buyers at
companies across North America and Europe, 65% of which had fewer
than 500 employees.
Large technology vendors -- from Microsoft Corp. to Alphabet
Inc.'s Google -- see an opportunity to make AI services and
products accessible to small businesses.
Microsoft offers a set of AI models that already are programmed
with data. Small companies don't need to train the tool with more
information and instead can build customizable AI-based
applications that integrate speech and image recognition, without
needing much technical expertise.
"That'll make it much easier for [small and midsize businesses]
to embrace AI," said David Carmona Salas, general manager of
Microsoft AI.
Google says some of its AI services don't need machine-learning
knowledge and can help companies reduce time spent on mundane
processes, said Rajen Sheth, vice president of product for Google
Cloud AI.
Meanwhile, startups also are coming up with AI-based options for
small and midsize businesses.
It can be hard to cut through the noise when it comes to vendors
touting AI services. Small businesses should make sure to ask what
their definition of AI is and whether it matches the needs of the
company, said Whit Andrews, a Gartner analyst specializing in
AI.
Kim Taylor, chief executive and founder of Cluster Inc., an
online marketplace to match engineering talent to industrial firms,
says the company is taking a gradual approach to implementing AI to
automate tasks and communicate with customers.
"It's a behavioral shift. All these companies are under pressure
to adopt technology they don't understand. It can feel daunting,"
she said
--Angus Loten contributed to this article.
Write to Sara Castellanos at sara.castellanos@wsj.com and Agam
Shah at agam.shah@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 09, 2019 07:14 ET (11:14 GMT)
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