Can A.I. Answer the Needs of Smaller Businesses? Some Push to Find Out.

Yet so far, the impact has been limited. Although adoption of A.I. is rising, only about 5 percent of companies nationwide are using the technology, according to a survey of businesses from the Census Bureau. Many economists predict that generative A.I. is years away from measurably affecting economic activity -- but they say change will come. "To me, this is a story of five years, not five quarters," said Philipp Carlsson-Szlezak, the global chief economist at Boston Consulting Group. "Over a five-year horizon, am I going to see something measurable?