On its current trajectory, Gen AI adoption by Canadian businesses could reach a tipping in the next 3 to 6 years — likely too slow to keep pace with global competitors, according to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. PHOTO by Pexels.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Business Data Lab recently released a report exploring the adoption of Gen AI among Canadian businesses. Included below are the key findings from the report.
Key findings from the report
- Roughly 1 in 7 Canadian businesses (14%) are early Gen AI adopters. They are found within every Canadian industry and region, but are more likely to be exporters, larger businesses, industries with highly educated workers or emerging enterprises.
- Larger businesses are nearly twice as likely to use Gen AI than small businesses.
- On its current trajectory, Gen AI adoption by Canadian businesses could reach a tipping in the next 3 to 6 years — likely too slow to keep pace with global competitors.
- Depending on the rate of adoption, Gen AI could grow Canada’s productivity between 1% and 6% over the next decade.
- The factor of “trust” will be important for future adoption, with public interest and acceptance of AI likely being positively correlated with countries’ business adoption rates. Global IPSOS surveys reveal that Canadians are less knowledgeable and more nervous about AI than citizens of most other countries.
- Most businesses using Gen AI are predominately looking to accelerate content creation (69%) and automate work without job cuts (46%).
- Roughly 3 in 10 businesses cite hiring skilled employees and access to finance as top challenges to adopting new technologies.
- Almost 3 in 4 Canadian businesses (73%) have not even considered using Gen AI yet.
“It is recommended that Canadian businesses move fast to adopt Gen AI to gain a competitive advantage over global competitors. This means starting with small-scale pilot projects to validate the feasibility and impact of Gen AI before gradually expand to larger initiatives based on successful proofs of concept, all while training and preparing employees for the adoption of Gen AI,” the report states.
For its part, government can support Gen AI adoption by upskilling workers, setting adoption targets, tapping the private sector, and among other actions, ensuring regulation is proportionate and risk-based, the report adds.
