Generative AI and Professional Services: Balancing Hesitation and Anticipation
The light at the end of the tunnel might be a train.
GenAI isn’t just coming for finance; legal, tax, accounting, risk, fraud, and government are also being hit, and the transition will not be smooth.
Reuters found that the dominant sentiment surrounding GenAI from these professional services remains hesitant and fearful (52%), followed by optimism and excitement at 44%!
This doesn’t mean that AI isn’t coming; it most certainly is, and 70% of firms will have major AI rollouts in three years!
Like it or not, AI is coming, and the rationale is clear. 81% of respondents agreed that GenAI applied to their work.
👉TAKEAWAYS
🔹Positive feelings with some hesitancy – A large portion of respondents (44%) said they were hopeful or excited about GenAI’s introduction into their industry, while more than one-third of respondents (35%) said they were hesitant, and 18% said they were concerned or fearful.
🔹 The source of hesitancy – Of the portion that said they were hesitant, 20% said they felt that way due to accuracy concerns, 18% said they were skeptical GenAI could deliver promised results, and 16% were concerned about over-reliance.
🔹 Majority see use cases – A large majority (81%) said GenAI can be applied to their work, while fewer (54%) said they believe GenAI should be applied to their work.
🔹 Most not using, but considering – Almost one-quarter of respondents said they were already using GenAI while almost one-third (32%) of all respondents said they were still considering whether or not to use GenAI at work. 45% said they had no plans to use it at this time.
🔹 Training not a priority – Respondents from corporate risk departments (38%) and corporate legal departments (25%) reported the highest proportion of GenAI training for staff, while less than 20% of law firm and tax firm respondents said they had received GenAI training.
🔹 Inaccuracy, privacy worries persist – More than half of respondents identified such worries as inaccurate responses (70%); data security (68%); privacy and confidentiality of data (62%); complying with laws and regulations (60%); and ethical and responsible usage (57%) as primary concerns for GenAI.
Despite user’s hesitancy the reality is that in the next 3 years nearly 70% of firms surveyed will have it rolled out!
👊STRAIGHT TALK👊
Hesitant or not, AI is coming.
While professionals may be hesitant, everyone realizes that AI is a transformational technology, and with firms rolling out new systems in the next few years no one will be able to avoid it.
But that doesn’t mean it will go smoothly. Two statistics shocked me and point to a bumpy roll-out.
First, a full 45% of those surveyed had no plans to use GenAI at this time.
This group should be worried because unless they start using ChatGPT and become familiar with these systems now, they are headed to obsolescence.
The second statistic was equally stunning and maddening. Most professional services firms do not prioritize AI training for their employees, and around 75% of employees are untrained.
If nearly half of employees aren’t using AI, and their companies aren’t interested in training them before AI lands, how can we expect the transition to go smoothly?
AI is coming and brings with it transformational capabilities, but it looks like many workers simply won’t be ready.
For some, that is going to really hurt.
Thoughts?
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