JUNE 2019CIOAPPLICATIONSEUROPE.COM 19he potential benefits of AI and automation are huge. Quite rightly, everyone from governments to SMBs have identified that these technologies can be harnessed to drive growth, increase efficiency, and streamline internal processes. What must be remembered however, as businesses push towards a future aided by AI and boosted by automated processes, is that like all new forms of technology these innovations have downsides, and those downsides are potential reputational or business risks if handled badly or ignored. Let's start with the most commonly raised issue, that of potential job loss. Despite assurances from governments and many of the companies who are investing heavily in AI and/or automation, over half (54 percent) of the British public believe that more jobs will be lost than created. A similar proportion (50 percent) are also of the opinion that "human quotas", an idea publicly floated by the Labour party in 2017, are a good idea. Furthermore, while more agree (42 percent) than disagree (15 percent) that businesses should continue to develop and use AI and automation, there is also a clear appetite (44 percent agree) for an "automation" tax should jobs be lost above and beyond a certain point. It is clear we are already in a situation where the public of the UK, and likely much of the Western world, are already articulating what they see as the upper limits of acceptability when it comes to AI and automation roll-out. Based on public opinion right now, going past those upper limits would seem to invite government intervention in the form of direct regulation and potentially new forms of taxation. Furthermore, what will your staff think when you are investing in AI and automation in the workplace? A third of the UK public would be uncomfortable working at a company that automates a lot of their production, no doubt concerned for their own job security. More alarming though, especially for any major company that sells directly to consumers, is the finding that a third of the British public would boycott any company that laid off a significant proportion of their staff due to automation or AI rollout. While we all know that the number of people who actually boycott things is always lower than the number who say they will, it would be wise for any company to bear this issue in mind. The public loss of The Perils and Pitfalls of AI and AutomationCARL PHILLIPS, HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY, MEDIA AND TELECOM, IPSOS UK CORPORATE REPUTATION TEAMcXoinsightsTCarl Phillips
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