Wharton’s Stefano Puntoni talks about the key findings of a new report that reveals a seismic shift in firms’ attitudes and uses of AI in just a short time.
Generative artificial intelligence is transitioning from a curious toy to an indispensable tool that more companies are integrating into daily operations, according to a new report by Wharton School experts and marketing consultancy GBK Collective.
Wharton marketing professor Stefano Puntoni. (Image: Knowledge at Wharton)
“Growing Up: Navigating Gen AI’s Early Years” is a survey of more than 800 senior business leaders in large organizations that reveals a seismic shift in their attitudes and applications of AI in just a short time. In 2023, the first year of the survey, only 37% reported using AI weekly. That number has risen to 72% in 2024. Negative perceptions, namely worry and skepticism, are softening as decision-makers explore how this evolving technology can help their firms become better.
“I was quite pleased to see the results. The picture we are getting is that people are learning about gen AI—and what they are learning, they like,” says Wharton marketing professor Stefano Puntoni, who is also faculty co-director of AI at Wharton. Puntoni co-wrote the survey with Jeremy Korst, partner at GBK Collective, and Mary Purk, executive director of AI at Wharton.
According to the survey, generative AI is being widely deployed across functions, even in departments such as marketing and human resources that were initially slower to adopt it. The highest use is in document and proposal writing and editing with 64%, followed closely by data analyses and analytics at 62%. Other high-use functions include customer service and support, fraud detection and prevention, and financial forecasting and planning.
Puntoni says the survey also shows the gap is closing between the two extreme beliefs about AI being either a harbinger of doom or a gateway to utopia. As people become more acquainted with it, they are less curious and less fearful. They’re more willing to experiment with AI while understanding its limitations, including false information known as hallucinations. Survey participants cited accuracy, bias, data privacy, team integration, and ethics as their top concerns.
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