Can A.I. Answer the Needs of Smaller Businesses? Some Push to Find Out.
When generative A.I. surged into the public consciousness in late 2022, it captured the imagination of businesses and workers with its ability to answer questions, compose paragraphs, write code and create images. Analysts projected that the technology would transform the economy by driving a boom in productivity.
Yet so far, the impact has been limited. Although adoption of A.I. is rising, only about 5 percent of companies nationwide are using the technology, according to a survey of businesses from the Census Bureau. Many economists predict that generative A.I. is years away from measurably affecting economic activity — but they say change will come.
“To me, this is a story of five years, not five quarters,” said Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak, the global chief economist at Boston Consulting Group. “Over a five-year horizon, am I going to see something measurable? I think so.”
While some of the largest companies, in Nashville and elsewhere, are finding uses for A.I. — and devoting money and time to developing more — many smaller companies are just starting to dabble in the technology, if they use it at all.
“The best and the biggest are actually working on implementing it and getting value from it now, but the adoption curve is really early,” Mr. Carlsson-Szlezak said.
Allison Giddens, a co-president at Win-Tech, an aerospace manufacturing company with 41 employees in Kennesaw, Ga., said she started using ChatGPT about six months ago for some operational tasks, like writing emails to employees, analyzing data and drafting basic procedures for the company’s front office. A note taped to her computer monitor says simply “ChatGPT” to remind her to use the technology.