The warnings about artificial intelligence are everywhere: The technology will put workers out of jobs, spread inaccurate information, and expose corporations who use AI to myriad legal risks.
Despite all the noise however, business leaders aren’t very concerned about AI—at least, according to a new survey of 2,800 managers and executives.
Not only is AI not the top risk that they cited for their companies, it didn’t even make the top 20. AI ranked as the 49th biggest threat for businesses, according to the survey conducted by management consulting firm Aon and published on Tuesday.
The No. 1 concern for business leaders is “cyber attack or data breach,” making a repeat appearance in the top spot after the last time Aon conducted the survey in 2021. Other top concerns included any kind of interruption in business operations, an economic slowdown, and the inability to attract and retain talent, according to participants, who spanned internal company roles, industries, and locations around the world.
The responses suggest a discrepancy in how those inside and outside the corporate world view AI risks. If there are 48 more pressing concerns for businesses, has the threat of AI been overhyped? Or are business leaders too laissez-faire about the new technology?
The survey participants might be getting it wrong, Aon said in its report. AI presents “a significant threat to organizations,” and it “should have been ranked higher by participants,” the company wrote.
Karim Lakhani, Harvard Business School professor who focuses on the role of AI in business, agrees: “People are completely missing the boat on this,” he told Fortune. “It’s a risk in so many ways—risk of not doing enough in the space, or doing it but doing it poorly.”
“It’s shocking they placed it 49th,” Lakhani said. “For me, it’s top five or top three.”
Buzzword fatigue
Adopting AI isn’t something that can be outsourced like other tech integrations, but it must be handled at the executive level, Lakhani said. “You have to do the work yourself, and I don’t think the CEOs, the managers, and the leaders at many companies are putting in the work to know what the problems and opportunities are.”
The reason might lie in the fatigue business executives have felt by following tech trends in recent years, he said. Buzzwords have crowded the business world—blockchain, web3, cryptocurrency, metaverse, augmented reality, virtual reality, and now AI. Not all trends have lived up to the hype, with the crypto world darkened by the fraudulent activities of Sam Bankman-Fried and uncertain demand for viewing the world through a VR headset. In seeing the slow uptake of technologies promised to be the future, business leaders may view AI as a problem to tackle tomorrow rather than today, when that’s just not the case, Lakhani said.
While the threat of AI looks trivial to survey participants in the present, they did acknowledge its future implications. Business leaders expect AI to be the 17th biggest risk in the future, the results show. But they expect cyber attacks to remain No. 1.
Many business sectors may not have had enough exposure to AI yet to consider it a serious threat. Six industries that have invested in AI—including professional services, financial institutions, insurance, technology, media and communications, and the public sector—all ranked AI in their top 10 risks for the future.
The big potatoes
Cyber attacks have consistently ranked as a major threat for businesses, and it’s clear why. The number of data compromises per year was at an all-time high by October 2023, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. The organization tracked 2,100 hacks impacting 234 million people in the first three quarters of this year. While there are more hacks, the number of victims is down. In 2018, more than 2.2 billion people suffered from breaches. The number of yearly attacks and victims is likely much higher than the reported number, according to Fast Company, which shut down for eight days last year due to a hack.
Cyber breaches can halt revenue generation, damage the reputation of a company, and put individuals in danger. Last month, a hacker released data from genetic testing company 23andMe in a targeted attack against Ashkenazi Jews. The company is now facing a class action lawsuit over its security practices.
AI is in part such a risk for companies because it exacerbates the threat of cyber attacks, the UK government warned in an October report. AI systems allow perpetrators to perform hacks at a faster pace and larger scale with better results, it said. These new technologies not only improve old attack techniques, like sending a persuasive phishing email, but create new ones, like cloning the voice of a loved one and asking for money over the phone. But AI will also play an increasing role protecting companies from cyber attacks, according to the report.
“For the longest time, cyber was ignored by companies,” Lakhani said. “Over the past five years, it’s become a super important issue.” Boards have an increased focus on appointing leaders with cybersecurity backgrounds, hiring crisis teams that include a ransom negotiator, and educating those at the highest levels of companies.
The irony is that “the same thing is happening with AI,” he told Fortune. “People are ignoring it, and what’s going to happen is that the same issues from the board level to the individual employee are going to come up. These companies aren’t paying enough attention to it.”
