More than half of French employers said they were not using artificial intelligence (AI) and did not plan to do so in the future, according to a poll released by France's job search agency Pôle Emploi.

Among those who do not use AI, 78% said their activity was incompatible with the technology.

Another one-third of the employers not using it said they lacked the skills to do so, and nearly one in three said they did not have the financial means for it. 

Meanwhile, roughly 35% of employers said they were already using artificial intelligence or were in the middle of rolling it out in the workplace, the poll, conducted for the government agency by the BVA institute, also found.

It surveyed 3,000 companies with ten or more employees by telephone in May 2023.

Which companies are more likely to use AI?

The sectors most likely to use artificial intelligence included agriculture, industry, finance, and commerce.

While around 34% of companies with fewer than 100 employees used the technology, some 45% of companies with more than 200 employees did.

What is its impact on these companies?

Those who use AI were positive about its impact, with around 74% saying there was a positive effect on the evolution of people's skill sets.

Some 73% of employers using the technology said there was a positive effect on employees' performance, while 66% said it had a positive effect on staff health and safety.

Around 63% of these employers said it reduced tedious tasks.

Tools capable of answering questions or performing diagnostics to support decision-making were the most used by employers using AI. This was followed by language processing and robotics.

Voice or visual recognition tools were the least used by companies.

AI was most often used in accounting, communication and human resources, the poll showed.

Two-thirds of the companies using AI said they had trained staff within their companies, while 22% recruited those in AI-related jobs.

Two-thirds of the companies using AI also said that it had increased employees' autonomy.

AI technology has experienced a recent boom since the chatbot ChatGPT, released last November, reportedly became the fastest-growing application.

Experts, including AI developers, have recently issued stark warnings including that regulating AI should be a "global priority" to mitigate the "risk of extinction".

Many have also expressed concerns that the technology could replace jobs.

LeackStat 2023