The urgency to "take the AI ​​train" still little understood by the bosses

The arrival of ChatGPT generative AI is "the equivalent of the arrival of the Ford-T", the first mass-produced car at the start of the 20th century, "or the release of Windows 95 which gave access to the internet to the greatest number" said Michel Lévy Provençal, consultant in strategic foresight, on Monday during a debate at the Meeting of Entrepreneurs of France (REF) organized by Medef.

For him, 2023 could be “year zero of a productivity revolution”, and “the question is not whether we are going to adopt AI but when we are going to get on this train”.

"The AI ​​revolution", just like that of climate change, "it's not next year, not next month, it's happening now", launched the minister on Tuesday. Economy Bruno Le Maire during an intervention before the Medef.

Equans (Bouygues group), world leader in multi-technical services specializing in particular in the energy transition, is already using AI for its projects.

His boss Jérôme Stubler observed, during the debate, that, in this group of 90.000 employees, “we record 55.000 daily requests on generative AI tools”.

“That’s it, it’s started, it’s become an everyday tool for our employees,” he rejoiced, also echoing the railway metaphor: “we take this train or we don’t take it.”

However, a large majority of French bosses seem to remain on the dock for the moment, according to the results of the latest edition of the monthly OpinionWay survey for CCI France, carried out at the end of July and beginning of August among a thousand business leaders. companies from all sectors.

AI or die?

To the question "For your company, is generative artificial intelligence more of an opportunity or more of a threat?", 10% answered "an opportunity", 18% "a threat", 64% think that "it will not have no impact", 5% have no opinion and 3% did not know ChatGPT.

With only 28% of companies expecting an impact from AI, positive or negative, "we are late" Alain Di Crescenzo, president of CCI France, expressed alarm to AFP: "S' to free oneself from thinking about AI is to lose market share".

“Initial studies show productivity gains ranging from 15% to 50% on certain tasks thanks to generative AI,” recalled Michel Lévy Provençal.

“AI will not destroy jobs and on the contrary create them, but AI will kill companies if they do not take this turn,” says Eléonore Crespo, CEO of Pigment (business planning software ).

However, she calls on bosses to put their own data in order before using AI, and suggests that they “get support from AI specialists” to get started.

The Chambers of Commerce and Industry, which mainly target companies with fewer than 100 employees, rely in particular on their 250 advisors specializing in digital technology (out of 3.600) to “conduct this pedagogy”.

They already support bosses via entities like “La Ruche Numérique” in Le Mans, or the “riality Lab” of the CCI Aix-Marseille-Provence, whose president Jean-Luc Chauvin reassures: “We adapt” to knowledge of the company, "we are not going to sell a Ferrari to a novice driver". Private training is also beginning to multiply.

But all is not so simple. Alain Monteux, president of Tunstall in France (home remote assistance for the elderly or sick, 220 customers), explains to AFP that he wants to move from assisting people in the event of a fall "to detecting the risk of falling." one of the applications of AI through the management of health data.

"You have to get help. I've met a lot of people, companies, experts, but I haven't yet found..." he remarks.