NEW YORK, Dec. 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite massive
corporate investments in artificial intelligence (AI), nearly
three-quarters of consumers are concerned about AI infringing on
their privacy, according to a new study from Genpact, a global
professional services firm focused on delivering digital
transformation. The survey of more than 5,000 people across
the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia also reveals that 59 percent of
respondents think their government should do more to protect
personal data from AI.
Disconnect in corporate and customer views
Consumers'
wariness of AI contrasts significantly with optimism expressed by
corporate management. According to a previous Genpact study
conducted earlier this year, 88 percent of senior executives at
companies that are leaders in AI expect the technology will drive
better customer experiences within three years.
The consumer survey released today is the third in a three-part
Genpact research series that offers a comprehensive view of AI
adoption, readiness, and impact across three critical and disparate
communities – the C-suite, workforce, and consumers. The first
study, published in September 2017,
explores the C-suite and senior management's perspective, and the
second survey, released in November
2017, looks at workers' views.
In the consumer research released today, only 12 percent of
people surveyed say they would prefer to be served by a chatbot,
even if the service they receive is faster and more accurate
than that of a human. Yet over three times more executives (38
percent) think their customers will prefer service by a chatbot in
three years, according to Genpact's senior management study.
Companies need to lay the groundwork now to address this disconnect
and pave the way for smooth AI adoption.
Building trust with cautious consumers
Although
companies continue to embrace AI (for example, 82 percent of senior
executives say they plan to implement AI-related technologies by
2020), many potential customers still have substantial fears.
Nearly two thirds (63 percent) of respondents in the consumer study
worry that AI will make decisions that will impact their lives
without their knowledge. Moreover, 58 percent of people surveyed do
not feel comfortable with companies using AI to access their data
to personalize and improve their experiences with a brand.
"AI is a game-changer to improve the customer experience, yet
real challenges remain regarding trust and privacy," said
Sanjay Srivastava, chief digital
officer, Genpact. "To encourage adoption, the key is to have
visibility into AI decisions, and be able to track and explain the
logic behind them. Companies need to break through the 'black box'
to drive better insights for their business and give consumers the
assurance they need."
Meeting consumer expectations today, and tomorrow
Even
with explosive growth of home digital assistants, chatbots, smart
sensors, etc., consumers still perceive they have little contact
with AI. Less than half of those surveyed say they interact with
some form of AI regularly (i.e., once a week or more). In addition,
two in five (41 percent) believe that AI has made no difference to
their lives.
However, the study also shows that younger generations interact
with AI more frequently and cite its benefits. They are twice as
more likely than older people surveyed to say AI is making their
lives better. Younger generations also don't need the human touch
quite as much: Only one third of Gen-Z and millennials strongly
agree that they prefer human interaction rather than AI, compared
to 57 percent of baby boomers.
"AI, even in these early days, is the
single biggest shift transforming how people interact with
businesses and the world around them," said Srivastava. "The
generational differences with AI adoption are critical to
understand, especially as demographic shifts continue, and
millennials and Gen-Z have greater impact on business decisions.
The companies that will win in this new world are ones that seize
AI's potential in a way that deeply understands and solves for
consumers' concerns."
For more details on this study, see The consumer: Sees AI
benefits but still prefers the human touch. For views from the
C-suite, read Genpact's first report, Is your business
AI-ready?, and see The workforce: Staying ahead of
artificial intelligence for second part in the series.
Combined, these findings give businesses valuable insights on how
to succeed with artificial intelligence.
About the Research
In August
2017, Genpact worked with research firm YouGov to survey
5,179 people (2,189 in the United
States, 1,749 the United
Kingdom, and 1,241 in Australia) to study how artificial
intelligence impacts their personal and professional lives. Of the
total survey population, 2,795 were employed at least eight hours
per week. YouGov conducted the fieldwork online between
August 15-30, 2017. In addition, in a
separate study conducted in June
2017, Genpact and FORTUNE Knowledge Group surveyed 300
global senior executives on AI issues, and also differentiated
between "AI leaders" – respondents who achieve strong positive
business outcomes from AI, scoring 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale --
and "AI laggards," who scored 1 through 6 on the same scale.
About Genpact
Genpact (NYSE: G) is a global
professional services firm that makes business transformation real.
We drive digital-led innovation and digitally-enabled intelligent
operations for our clients, guided by our experience running
thousands of processes for hundreds of Global Fortune 500
companies. We think with design, dream in digital, and solve
problems with data and analytics. We obsess over operations and
focus on the details – all 78,000+ of us. From New York to
New Delhi and more than 20
countries in between, Genpact has the end-to-end expertise to
connect every dot, reimagine every process, and reinvent companies'
ways of working. We know that rethinking each step from start to
finish will create better business outcomes. Whatever it is, we'll
be there with you – putting data and digital to work to create
bold, lasting results – because transformation happens here. Get to
know us at Genpact.com and on LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and
Facebook.
For more information:
Danielle
D'Angelo
(Genpact Media
Relations)
danielle.dangelo@genpact.com
+1
914-336-7951
Taylor
Blackburn
(for Genpact
Australia)
taylor.blackburn@haystac.com.au
+61 (0)2 8094
7637
|
Abby
Trexler
(for Genpact
U.S.)
atrexler@peppercomm.com
+1
212-931-6179
Rudra
Bose
(for Genpact
India)
rudra.bose@bm.com
+91
9811626585
|
Laura
Brooks
(for Genpact
U.K.)
Laura.Brooks@peppercomm.com
+44 207 680
7113
|
|
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SOURCE Genpact Limited