Artificial intelligence (AI) over the past decade has shifted from research theories to actual practices in corporate offices. But it isn’t within the reach of many smaller companies, yet, the Wall Street Journal reported. The high upfront costs of AI tools, scarcity of people who can implement the technology at individual operations, and more pressing IT expenses have widened the gap in AI implementation. But a range of players, from large technology vendors to startups, are coming up with tools that allow small businesses to use the technology without a data scientist on staff. Still, even with such tools, it can take time for any company, large or small, to implement a new technology into its business processes. The operational efficiency of an AI system, while desirable, is still far from a priority for many companies. Many small firms looking to use AI have to build everything from scratch, said Brad Fisher, KPMG’s U.S. leader for data analytics and artificial intelligence. Even then, the firms may lack the breadth of data to train and test these systems before they are deployed. “Deploying AI technologies is a lot more complex than tech vendors would lead them to believe,” Fisher said. “Many smaller organizations’ IT departments are understaffed, with IT professionals struggling to deal with more pressing concerns, such as updating aging hardware, securing corporate networks and supporting growing tech requests from end users,” said Peter Tsai, senior technology analyst at Spiceworks, a professional network for IT workers.
