ABBYY Survey Reveals FOMO Drives AI Adoption in 65% of Singapore Businesses on Average, but Raises Trust Issues

• Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) a key driver for AI uptake – even as trust in AI is high
• Average AI investment in Singapore is second highest globally at S$1.3 million, second only to EU respondents (Germany and France)

A new survey from intelligent automation company, ABBYY, finds that fear of missing out (FOMO) plays a big factor in artificial intelligence (AI) investment, with 65% of business leaders in Singapore reporting they are worried their company will be left behind if they don’t use it.

With fears of being left behind so prevalent, it is no surprise that IT decision makers in Singapore reported average AI investments from S$1.3 million compared to approximately S$1.14 million globally. This was the second highest regional investment average behind EU respondents (Germany and France), despite over a fifth (22%) of leaders in Singapore having concerns about implementation costs. Almost all (96%) of Singapore respondents in the ABBYY State of Intelligent Automation: AI Trust Barometer said they plan to increase investment in AI in the next year, although Gartner predicts that by 2025, growth in 90% of enterprise deployments of generative AI will slow as costs exceed value. 

Approximately two thirds (63%) of decision makers in Singapore admit that another key driver for use of AI was pressure from customers, making Singapore AI investment the second most customer-driven (just behind Australia at 68%) compared to 55% of respondents globally.

The survey revealed the top reason for apprehension towards AI adoption among Singapore IT leaders was the potential for hallucinations and inaccuracies (33%). Additionally, technical complexity and a lack of talent or expertise were also cited as concerns among 30% of respondents in the region, indicating anxieties about the need for upskilling and training for organizational AI proficiency. This was shared by Singapore’s APAC counterpart in Australia, where technical complexity and a lack of expertise were also cited among IT leaders’ top three concerns.

The vast majority (86%) of Singapore respondents reported that they trust AI tools in general to benefit their business. The most trustworthy AI tools were found to be large language models (LLMs) according to 91% of these respondents. However, there was a disconnect between their most trusted and most used AI, with more leaders citing use of purpose-built AI tools like intelligent document processing (56%) than LLMs (51%).

Maxime Vermeir, Senior Director of AI Strategy at ABBYY, commented, “It’s no surprise to me that organizations have more trust in small language models due to the tendency of LLMs to hallucinate and provide inaccurate and possibly harmful outcomes. We’re seeing more business leaders moving to SLMs to better address their specific business needs, enabling more trustworthy results.” 

When asked about trust and ethical use of AI, IT decision makers in Singapore indicated the highest confidence globally in their compliance with AI regulation, with an impressive 97% of respondents feeling confident that they’re in compliance with all government policies on the use of AI tools. More than half (55%) say they have their own trustworthy AI policies that teams adhere to, 52% plan to implement additional policies soon, and 38% are seeking guidance from a consultant or non-profit.

General trust in AI to benefit business was nearly equal between Australia and Singapore (85% and 86% respectively), however the two APAC countries differed significantly in their trust of purpose-built AI and SLMs with 95% of Australia respondents indicating trust versus only 87% in Singapore.

The ABBYY State of Intelligent Automation Report gauged the level of trust and adoption of AI technologies across 1,200 IT decision makers in the UK, US, France, Germany, Australia and Singapore. Data specific to each country is available upon request. The study was carried out June 3-12, 2024. Download the full report for additional details at abbyy.com.

The results of the AI Trust Barometer survey and other topics about the impact of AI-powered automation will be discussed during Intelligent Automation Month; register today at https://www.abbyy.com/intelligent-automation-month/.