4 Reasons Why Most Entrepreneurs Still Hesitate to Use ChatGPT Large Language Models have impressed, but enterprise readiness remains a key concern.
By Hui Yuan (Max) Edited by Micah Zimmerman
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has garnered tremendous attention and holds the potential to revolutionize various industries. However, the practical implementation of AI systems is not without its challenges. As enterprises consider adopting AI technologies like ChatGPT, many factors must be considered.
As with any new technology, some kinks need to be worked out. However, since the potential impact of AI technology is tremendous, companies are more hesitant about adopting and implementing AI systems. This article explores why most enterprises are hesitant to significantly adopt ChatGPT and similar large language models (LLM) while discussing potential solutions to address these concerns.
Related: The Dark Side of ChatGPT: Employees & Businesses Need to Prepare Now
1. AI doesn't always get the facts right
ChatGPT has impressed even AI skeptics with impressive reasoning abilities and strong problem-solving skills. But is it actually that smart?
An LLM is a deep-learning AI algorithm that is trained with enormous data sets to recognize, summarize, translate, predict, and generate text and other content. However, this means its reasoning abilities and knowledge entirely depend on the data it has been trained on.
As a result, while these AI models excel at generating coherent responses, they don't always have a contextual understanding of the data and may produce inaccurate, unrelated, or misleading information. This limitation raises concerns about the reliability and trustworthiness of their outputs, keeping enterprises from utilizing them in critical business operations.
For example, ChatGPT reportedly told Harry McCracken from FastCompany that Apple CEO John Sculley released the iPod — a product released eight years after he left the company. While this may not be super common, even one inaccuracy in 10 answers can be a dealbreaker for enterprise users.
To increase its reliability and utilize AI to its full potential, ongoing research and development efforts should focus on improving AI models' contextual understanding and reasoning abilities. Additionally, fact-checking mechanisms need to be implemented.
Boosting the reliability and accuracy of AI-generated outputs will instill confidence in enterprises, which will increase the adoption of such systems.
Related: ChatGPT: What Is It and How Does It Work?
2. Costs associated with implementing AI technology
Another factor that businesses need to consider is the financial burden associated with integrating AI technologies like ChatGPT into their workflows. Developing and deploying a robust AI system requires significant financial investments in infrastructure, computational resources and manpower. According to experts, simply training an LLM can cost millions.
Additionally, licensing and maintenance costs need to be accounted for. These expenses may deter some companies from embracing AI, especially if they lack a clear understanding of the long-term benefits and the potential return on their investment.
To make AI more cost-effective, infrastructure requirements need to be reduced. Additionally, the utilization of computational resources needs to be optimized, and more efficient training techniques need to be developed.
Another way to make AI more enticing is to offer innovative and flexible pricing models and licensing options. If more companies can afford to implement AI, adoption will increase and there will be a bigger effort to make it even more accessible.
3. Data privacy and security
Privacy protection is another crucial concern for enterprises, especially with data privacy regulations, like the GDPR, CCPA, and the PIPL, passing around the globe. Since AI technology often requires access to sensitive data to perform effectively, companies are rightfully cautious about the potential risks associated with data breaches or unauthorized access to proprietary information.
This poses a challenge for businesses that want to comply with regulations while keeping data private and secure. So, maintaining data privacy and security is a top priority, and any AI solution must address these concerns to gain enterprise trust.
Enterprises and AI developers need to collaborate to establish robust privacy protection frameworks. Implementing secure data handling protocols and encryption is paramount to the success of AI.
Additionally, strict compliance with privacy regulations and industry standards is essential to build trust between businesses, consumers and AI technologies. One way to reduce concerns about unauthorized access or data breaches is to implement transparent data usage policies.
Related: Apple Tells Employees Not to Use ChatGPT Due to Data Leak Concerns
4. Lack of easy customization and implementation
While LLMs and similar AI technologies offer general-purpose capabilities, they are not tailored to specific industries out of the box. Since companies have unique workflows, processes and requirements, this lack of customization raises concerns about the effectiveness of AI systems in addressing industry-specific challenges.
Companies need assurance that AI technologies can seamlessly integrate into their existing infrastructure. Additionally, they need to be adaptable to specific needs without compromising operational efficiency.
AI developers should invest in creating industry-specific solutions or frameworks that can be easily customized and integrated into existing workflows. If implementing AI is not a disruptive process, it is more enticing for businesses.
This is why Xiao-i quadrupled its research and development budget in 2022 to overcome these challenges and is now launching its own LLM. Unlike ChatGPT, this LLM will be specifically geared towards use cases within enterprises by providing extensive customization options and enabling enterprise users to control both input and output to a greater extent.
However, more collaborative efforts between experts, businesses and AI researchers are necessary to ensure that AI technologies align with industry requirements and provide tangible benefits without disrupting operational processes.
Closing thoughts on the future adoption of AI technologies
While the potential of AI is undeniable, enterprises are rightfully cautious about the challenges associated with its adoption. Some issues, such as the lack of contextual understanding, costs, data privacy, corporate governance, and customization, are still hindering widespread adoption.
To overcome these concerns, ongoing research and development efforts should focus on enhancing the capabilities of AI systems while increasing their cost-effectiveness. With robust privacy and security measures and industry-specific customization in place, companies can then effectively utilize AI technology.
As the AI landscape continues to evolve, focusing on innovating and addressing the abovementioned concerns will enable enterprises to leverage AI technologies to help drive transformative change in various industries.
