Which Canadian businesses are using generative artificial intelligence and why?

Businesses are always looking for a competitive edge and generative artificial intelligence (AI) has been heralded as a transformative labour- and money-saving technology. In the first quarter of 2024, approximately one in seven Canadian businesses were already using (9.3%) or had plans to use (4.6%) generative AI.

Generative AI processes data and identifies patterns based on what it has learned to create new or original content, chat responses or synthetic data.

Almost one in four businesses in information and cultural industries are already using generative AI

Almost one in four businesses in information and cultural industries (24.1%) were already using generative AI in the first quarter of 2024, while a further 7.1% were planning on using it, placing them well above businesses in all other industries in embracing this new technology overall.

Businesses in professional, scientific and technical services ranked second in terms of currently using (18.8%) or planning to use (9.5%) generative AI; followed by finance and insurance, with 16.9% currently using it and 5.8% planning to use it.

Replacing employees is well down the list of reasons for using or planning to use generative AI

In the first quarter of 2024, just over two-thirds (68.5%) of businesses that were using or planning to use generative AI saw value in its ability to accelerate creative content development. This was followed by increasing automation without cutting jobs or hours (46.1%), improving client or customer experience (37.5%), and achieving cost efficiencies (35.1%).

Approximately one in eight (12.8%) businesses that were using or planning to use generative AI saw its value in automating tasks to replace employees.

Larger businesses more likely to use or plan to use generative AI than smaller ones

Over one in four businesses with 100 or more employees were either already using generative AI (14.7%) in the first quarter of 2024, or had plans to use it (13.8%).

By way of comparison, approximately one in eight (12.3%) businesses with one to four employees were using (8.5%) or planning to use (3.8%) generative AI.

Almost three in four Canadian businesses have not considered using generative AI

In the first quarter of 2024, almost three in four Canadian businesses (72.7%) have not considered using generative AI. Businesses in transportation and warehousing (86.8%) were least likely to consider using the technology, followed by those in construction (85.6%) and agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (85.1%).