IBM Announces '2022 AI Adoption Index': "Korea Adopts AI to Enhance Efficiency and Reduce Costs"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] On the 7th, IBM announced the annual report titled ‘2022 AI Adoption Index,’ which surveyed the status of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption by companies worldwide.

The survey, conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of IBM, presented the current status and necessity of AI adoption as well as the challenges faced by companies. It also introduced global technology trends related to AI, including automation, trustworthy AI, sustainability, and data strategy. The survey was conducted among 7,502 IT decision-makers from companies worldwide, including 500 respondents from Korea.

According to the released ‘2022 AI Adoption Index’ report, improving efficiency and reducing costs were identified as the main drivers for AI adoption among domestic companies. Korean respondents cited ‘improving IT operational efficiency’ (40%), ‘enhancing business process efficiency’ (39%), and ‘cost reduction’ (39%) as key factors for adoption. In contrast, globally, the main reasons for adopting AI were ‘increased accessibility due to AI advancements’ (43%), ‘cost reduction and automation of key business processes’ (42%), and ‘increase in the number of standard commercial business applications equipped with AI’ (37%), showing a difference from Korea.

The report emphasized the importance of ‘data management’ as a major factor hindering AI adoption within companies. In particular, among Korean companies, 44% of respondents answered that they are ‘using’ or ‘planning to use’ data fabric architecture for efficient data management, which is lower than the global average of 61%, indicating a need to improve efficient data management capabilities. Among Korean companies actively adopting or considering AI adoption, 88% responded that building and operating AI projects wherever data is located is very important, highlighting the significance of data management in AI adoption.

Additionally, respondents worldwide, including Korea, identified ‘lack of AI technology, knowledge, and expertise (45%)’ as a factor hindering AI adoption. This was followed by ‘lack of tools and platforms for AI model development (39%)’ and ‘excessively high costs (33%).’

According to the report, the global AI adoption rate in companies increased by 13% in 2022 compared to 2021. However, only 22% of Korean companies responded that they are ‘actively adopting’ AI in their business, which is lower than the global average of 34%. Forty-six percent of Korean respondents said they are ‘considering AI adoption.’

Furthermore, 93% of Korean companies with more than 1,000 employees said they are currently actively adopting or considering AI adoption, whereas only 57% of companies with fewer than 1,000 employees responded that they are actively adopting or considering AI adoption, showing a significant gap in AI adoption depending on company size.

Moreover, Korean IT decision-makers recognized the importance of building trustworthy AI. According to the report, more than 8 out of 10 respondents from Korean companies actively adopting or considering AI adoption said it is important for companies to be able to explain the decision-making process of AI. At the same time, 66% answered that the inability to explain current AI decisions and the lack of an AI strategy are challenges for companies in building trustworthy AI.

The report also introduced the status of AI adoption for ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance). Two out of three respondents worldwide said they have adopted or plan to adopt AI to achieve sustainability goals. About 40% of Korean respondents said AI has the potential to solve future ESG and sustainability-related issues, and 42% said AI will further improve business process efficiency.

Seokjae Choi, General Manager of Data & AI Technology Sales at IBM Korea, said, “Through this report, we confirmed that cases of actively utilizing or considering AI technology adoption are increasing worldwide, and more companies are moving to use AI for sustainable management. IBM will continue to support more companies to strategically and efficiently operate AI based on its accumulated global leadership and expertise in the AI field.”