Survey finds few businesses are prepared for AI risks

Companies have rushed headlong into adopting the latest AI tools with little preparation for the risks such technology might pose.

That was one of the takeaways from a McKinsey survey this week that examined the state of generative AI tech since ChatGPT first kicked off a frenzy around large language models (LLMs) late last year.

The consultancy polled 1,684 respondents across different businesses, regions, and industries. Around a third said their organization uses generative AI regularly in at least one area, and 22% said they routinely interact with it at work.

Yet just 21% of those who reported using AI at work said their employers have put policies in place for how employees use AI. And only 32% said their company was working to mitigate the risk of inaccurate information, while 38% said their organization was taking steps to deal with cybersecurity threats.

The report authors said the failure to address risks around AI has been a consistent trend in its reports on the state of AI adoption among businesses.

Alexander Sukharevsky, senior partner and global leader of McKinsey’s AI consulting arm, QuantumBlack, said in the report that businesses that focus too much on protecting their proprietary information and intellectual property are missing the bigger picture when it comes to the tech’s potential dangers.

“The real trap, however, is that companies look at the risk too narrowly,” Sukharevsky said in the report. “There is a significant range of risks—social, humanitarian, sustainability—that companies need to pay attention to as well. In fact, the unintended consequences of generative AI are more likely to create issues for the world than the doomsday scenarios that some people espouse.”

The findings are consistent with other reports that have pointed toward a lack of forethought surrounding AI adoption. A Boston Consulting Group study in June found that only 29% of workers said their companies were taking “adequate measures to ensure the responsible use of AI.”

Sukharevsky said companies need to take steps to game out possible scenarios when implementing AI, and consider not just business implications but effects on society at large.

“Companies that are approaching generative AI most constructively are experimenting with and using it while having a structured process in place to identify and address these broader risks,” he wrote. “They are putting in place beta users and specific teams that think about how generative AI applications can go off the rails to better anticipate some of those consequences.”