A significant gap has opened up between multinationals and local Irish companies in deploying artificial intelligence (AI), new research has found.

While half of employees in multinationals (MNCs) have access to generative (gen) AI tools, only 38pc of workers at Irish organisations do, according to a report by Accenture.

The proportion of the workforce confident in basic digital skills is 14 percentage points lower in local firms, and there is an even bigger gap in the proportion who say they have not received any digital-skills training over the past two years.

Ireland has been slow in building the foundations for AI and the cracks are beginning to show, the report says.

“A deployment gap is opening as organisations struggle to move their use of gen AI beyond proofs of concept,” it says. “Among those that have invested in the technology, 91pc have yet to scale its use across their business. One in three organisations believe their cloud capabilities are insufficient to leverage gen AI, highlighting the need to accelerate the modernisation of their technological foundations.”

While 43pc of employees in Ireland have access to generative AI tools to support their work, only 24pc use them at least once a week. Only one in 10 are applying the tools to critical decision-making or high-impact analysis.

A surge in digital skills training is urgently needed, the Accenture report says. Irish executives surveyed for the research estimate that 64pc of their workforces will require reskilling, the equivalent of over 1.7 million people.

The authors says nearly one in 10 organisations are using generative AI at scale, “so we know it can be done”.

Overall, AI has the potential to contribute up to €148bn to Ireland’s annual GDP by 2038, which would be a 22pc increase over the baseline forecast. If leveraged effectively, generative AI could increase Ireland’s average annual GDP growth rate for 2023-2038 from the baseline of 2.5pc to 3.9pc, according to the report.

The biggest productivity gains, of up to 20pc, could be enjoyed by the life-sciences industry, but nowhere is the opportunity bigger than in the public sector, the report says. “We estimate that 42pc of working hours in the Irish public sector (excluding healthcare) could be transformed by gen AI, either through automation or augmentation.

“This translates into a potential productivity gain of 12-18pc that, if realised, could result in €2.9bn in annual savings.”

Accenture’s modelling suggests the average Irish worker could regain 17pc of the working hours they spend on routine activities. A typical doctor could save five hours a week, while a commercial sales rep could save 12.

The top three areas where organisations in Ireland have piloted generative AI so far are IT (71pc), customer service (68pc) and marketing (68pc). Common use cases include coding copilots, AI-enabled chatbots and generating customised training materials.

“There is no guarantee the full potential for productivity and growth will be realised,” the report says. “Today, too few organisations use gen AI optimally and to amplify human abilities. But without a people-centric approach that empowers workers to perform higher-value tasks, rather than simply automating existing processes, €96bn in economic value could be left untapped by 2038 – an amount nearly equivalent to Ireland’s total public investment in 2024.”

Hilary O’Meara, country managing director of Accenture in Ireland, said: “Gen AI offers a unique opportunity for Ireland. We have a successful track record of leading the digital wave, combined with a young, skilled workforce and a globally-connected business ecosystem, positions us well to harness the benefits of gen AI and drive sustainable growth.”

Reporting on:independent.ie