AI Adoption Surges During COVID-19, KPMG Finds. So Do Ethical Concerns

Real-world AI deployments surged over the past year as companies sought to remain competitive during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new study released today by KPMG. However, even as they expanded and accelerated their AI projects, organizations expressed concerns about ethics and bias, and suggested AI might be getting ahead of regulations. KPMG's study, called "Thriving in an AI World," replicates a study conducted before COVID-19 upended our world a year ago. That provided KPMG Principal of AI, Traci Gusher, a convenient baseline to test how AI deployments have been impacted by COVID-19. "Over half the business leaders that we talked to said that AI is at least moderately to fully functional in their organization, which is a significant increase," Gusher says.