IONOS Survey: Americans Are Optimistic About AI in Business

IONOS, a web hosting and digitalization partner for small- and mid-sized businesses, conducted a survey asking 1,000 Americans about their opinion on the use of AI. Results show that Americans are getting more comfortable with using AI and are willing to explore its potential in the workplace.

That said, they are also concerned about the potential risks associated with adopting the latest AI technologies and would like to see stronger AI regulations. IONOS describes the current attitude of Americans toward AI as “cautious optimism.”

As many as 71% of Americans consider themselves very good to fairly good when it comes to their level of AI knowledge, and 63% feel very positive to fairly positive about AI adoption in business.

The survey results also show that AI is in the early stages of adoption among US businesses, with 42% of respondents indicating they use it for work and 40% reporting they haven’t used AI in the workplace so far. Of those who have implemented AI in their workflow, only 20% use it on a regular basis.

When it comes to the advantages of AI in business, 49% of respondents think AI has brought large to very large advantages in simplifying and speeding up processes. 46% cited relieving staff of standard tasks. 46% also cited developing creative ideas as the most significant advantage, followed by support for product development and innovations with 43%.

When asked about the biggest risks of AI in the workspace, Americans are most concerned about the dangers of misinformation (46%), the lack of quality control of AI-generated content (39%), violations of copyright, data security, or data protection (39%), and inability to control its influence (38%).

Surprisingly, the fear of losing their jobs due to AI (36%) isn’t topping the AI risk list. To alleviate these concerns, the majority of respondents (75%) demand strong AI regulations by the government.

IONOS was one of the early adopters of AI. In April, the company integrated AI capabilities into its MyWebsite Now website builder with an AI text generator that helps users create headlines and website content.

A few months later, IONOS introduced an AI-powered email marketing solution tailored to the needs of startups, solopreneurs, and small businesses that need to keep their audience engaged with regular newsletters and email offers.