Scottish Businesses and Artificial Intelligence

To give an early overview of the adoption of AI technologies amongst Scottish businesses, as well as how it was adopted, why, and any barriers that exist to further adoption of AI technologies.

The methodology consisted of desk research of the Scottish Government’s Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS) weighted Scotland estimates.

From the survey results available in October 2023, 16% of businesses are using, and 84% of businesses are not currently using AI. More than half of those businesses currently using AI technologies are doing so to improve their business operations. Similarly, the majority of those who are AI active, have incorporated it through the purchase of software. Even though the numbers are very small, the highest use of AI is through utilising large language models for text generation and machine learning for data processing. Improving business operations is a greater driver for future AI use, and this is predominantly driven by small and medium businesses. Large businesses using AI are doing so to improve their operations. Small and medium size businesses are more likely than large businesses to be using AI to provide or personalise products/services. Despite nearly half of Scottish businesses giving a response to the question about why they would seek to use AI technologies in future, the vast majority are not anticipating incorporating AI into their business in the next three months.

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