GenAI Market Research: ChatGPT usage high in Irish workplaces

ChatGPT is a more popular and widely used generative AI (GenAI) tool in Ireland than in the UK, a recent study of senior key decision makers in the UK & Ireland has revealed.

The study, conducted earlier this year by Coleman Parkes Research Ltd. and commissioned by SAS, surveyed 200 UK & Ireland GenAI strategy and data analytics decision-makers to pulse check major areas of investment and the hurdles organisations are facing around the technology.

It asked questions about organisations’ current plans to deploy GenAI, how the technology is integrated into their strategic planning, and what challenges they are facing. Find out more by reading the report entitled Generative AI Challenges and Potential Unveiled: How to Achieve a Competitive Advantage.

The research found that ChatGPT is by far the most popular GenAI tool in Ireland, with 29% of those who use GenAI in their professional lives saying it is the tool they used most often in the workplace. Meanwhile, other tools, such as DALL-E 2 and Jasper, were only used by 4% of respondents.

ChatGPT was also the most used tool in the UK, with 10% of respondents saying they use it in the workplace. However, Google AI was not far behind, with 8% of respondents selecting it as their preferred tool.

Proprietary/closed source large language model (LLM) was found to be the most common approach to adopting LLMs in Ireland, with 27% of organisations having already done so. However, this was the least common approach in the UK, with only 11% having adopted this approach.

Instead, open source LLM is the most popular option in the UK, with 33% having already adopted this approach, compared to 24% in Ireland.

The study found that more organisations in Ireland are fully prepared to integrate GenAI (11%) than in the UK (7%), but data privacy is the greatest concern in both regions, with three-quarters of organisations in Ireland ranking it as their top worry.

Meanwhile, the biggest challenge in implementing effective governance and monitoring for GenAI is technological limitations in both the UK & Ireland, with 45% of organisations in Ireland ranking it as their top challenge, compared to 28% in the UK.

Despite this, 58% of organisations in Ireland plan to introduce GenAI over the next three years, with 31% of them aiming to do this within the next year. Adoption is expected across many departments, with marketing, sales, IT and finance the most common - a clear majority (75% and above) are either using or planning to use GenAI in these areas.

Customer engagement and personalisation is seen to be the greatest potential benefit of adopting GenAI, with over three-quarters of Irish organisations saying they believe improvements will be made to their organisation in this area.

However, UK organisations are less enthusiastic about the benefits of GenAI. Just over half (56%) believe that customer engagement and personalisation will be improved, while 50% think it will improve the accuracy of predictive analytics. For Ireland these percentages are 77% and 64% respectively.

Speaking on the findings, Jean De Villiers, Head of Analytics at SAS Ireland, said: “There are promising signs of innovation in Ireland, with more organisations saying they are fully prepared to integrate GenAI than in the UK. Our research shows senior key decision-makers in Ireland recognise the many benefits of GenAI, and are aware of the improvements that it can make to customer engagement, predictive analytics, and competitive edge.

“It would appear to be just a matter of time before more organisations in Ireland implement it, with over half planning to do so in the next three years. First, they must tackle the challenges that they are encountering, such as technological limitations, which are being seen more widely in Ireland than in the UK. We are looking forward to supporting our customers through their journey towards trustworthy AI and GenAI adoption, and assisting them in using our technology to achieve the positive outcomes they seek.”

The SAS study sets out a number of recommendations that organisations should follow to successfully deploy GenAI, including the four steps below:

• Strategic deployment
• Comprehensive governance
• Technological integration
• Expert guidance

SAS’ global report on GenAI adoption has also been published, which provides further guidance around best practices and strategic insights aimed at empowering businesses to harness the technology’s full potential, along with comparisons across key markets and industry sectors.

Find out more by reading the full global report here.

Methodology

The survey was conducted by Coleman Parkes from 14 February to 12 April 2024, and targeted 200 decision-makers in GenAI strategy or data analytics in organisations across key sectors in the UK & Ireland. Survey respondents work across a range of sectors: banking, insurance, the public sector, life science, health, telco, manufacturing, retail, energy and utilities, and professional services. Their job titles include Data Manager, IT Director, and Chief Information Officer. The smallest organisations we surveyed employed a workforce of 500 - 999 people and the largest had more than 10,000 employees. The research conforms to the British Market Research Society’s Quality Standards, including ISO 20252.