By Business & Finance 
Viktor Kovacevic, Vice-President and General Manager, Comtrade Digital Services
The survey reveals that over half of Irish IT decision-makers expect intelligent robots in the workplace in the next half decade.
The Comtrade Digital Services survey took in 133 Irish IT leaders and their opinions on how digital transformation is taking hold of Irish business and society. Other aspects such as ‘The Internet of Things’ is seeing a vote of approval where 74% of respondents believe technology such as smart fridges will come in in the next five years.
Half of the respondents from the independent survey also expect driverless cars to make their way to Ireland by 2022.
Drone deliveries (66%), intelligent robots in the home (63%) and 3D-printed food (16%) were also foreseen to make an impact in Ireland by 2022.
Even though artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics are on everyone’s lips these days, the survey indicated people still want humans to make critical decisions. However, 76% of Irish organisations now use AI and/or data analytics to inform their key decisions in some way or another. Saying this, only 10% surveyed revealed that AI is more effective than humans when making business decisions at this stage.
Vice-President and General Manager of Comtrade Digital Services Viktor Kovacevic said: “In order to succeed in today’s business environment, Irish enterprises need to embrace transformative technologies and innovate quickly. These predictions come from the people leading Irish businesses’ IT operations and show that there is clearly a lot of change occurring, which can benefit both consumers and the overall business landscape.
“Intelligent robots and other transformative technologies will soon be at the forefront of innovation and increasingly, they will be available in the home and in the workplace. Forward-thinking Irish businesses have the opportunity to embrace this change and in turn reap the many benefits they afford.
“The use of data analytics and artificial intelligence by most Irish organisations is great to see. Decisions are factually based and can be made in real time – something that is vital for business success today. Most people still favour human intelligence over artificial intelligence, however I expect we will see a shift in mindsets as AI becomes more widespread and trusted.”
