Newswise – ITHACA, NY – Artificial intelligence has transformed nearly every industry, from manufacturing and retail to construction and agriculture. And as AI becomes more ubiquitous, companies often opt for off-the-shelf technologies that can be customized to their needs.
Chris Forman, a professor at Cornell University, was part of a research team that examined companies’ decisions to adopt AI technology and how that adoption came about: by purchasing pre-built software; by developing their own; or with a hybrid strategy, which the researchers say could reflect the “complementarity” of procurement approaches.
In an analysis of more than 3,000 European companies, they found that many – particularly in science, retail, finance, real estate and manufacturing – are increasingly relying on ready-made technology that can be tailored to the company’s specific needs. While AI appears to be a threat to the human workforce, these results suggest that there is still a need for workers with AI-related skills.
“In the vast majority of industries, companies do both pre-built and in-house development, and I think understanding why this is is an interesting question for future work,” said Forman, co-author of the book study published in the Journal of Economics and Management Strategy.
“Prepackaged software is important,” he said, “but for the vast majority of companies it does not appear to be a replacement for in-house software, suggesting that, at least in the short term, it will not eliminate the need for.” AI-related skills.”
The data in the study covered companies in 10 industries, with the largest share coming from manufacturing (19%), trade and retail (18%) and construction (12%). The sectors with the lowest proportion of respondents included agriculture (4%) and utilities (3%).
Companies most often use AI for a few purposes: fraud or risk detection; Process or system optimization; and process automation in warehouses or robotics.
Among the findings: The financial and scientific sectors – and to a lesser extent IT – preferred developing and customizing their own software, while agriculture, construction and human health preferred pre-built solutions.
Forman said that in the past, with the proliferation of new technologies came demand for different types of skills. “In the past, the net effect has tended to be to increase overall labor demand,” he said, “but it remains to be seen what happens in this case.”
This work was supported by the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research.
More information can be found here Cornell Chronicle story.
Cornell University has its own television and audio studios available for media interviews.
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