Hong Kong firms ‘cautiously’ adopt AI amid data acquisition challenges, study says

Hong Kong Businesses remain “cautious” about building and implementing artificial intelligence (AI) due to challenges related to obtaining high-quality data and uncertainty in technologyreturn on investment, according to study.

Conducted by the Paris-based digital consultancy firm fifty five in the years Google Cloud Summit in Hong Kong last month, a survey found that many local companies had not yet initiated any AI-based projects. There were 139 survey respondents at the conference.

According to the consulting firm, this reluctance is due to “uncertainty about the initial investment and expected returns” because developing AI applications requires certain advanced technologies.

Some 36 survey respondents said they have implemented AI in chatbots and customer service, while 35 respondents said they use the technology in select internal applications, such as performance analytics and alerts.

Artificial intelligence in Hong Kong enterprises has been adopted in chatbots and customer services. Photo: Shutterstock — AI in Hong Kong businesses has been embraced in chatbots and customer service. Photo: Shutterstock

The survey also found that nearly 40 percent of respondents had not established comprehensive data collection and reconciliation systems, which are essential elements for training AI systems. About 29 percent of respondents said they were still in the early stages of building such systems.

“The effectiveness of AI depends not only on the AI tool, but more importantly, on the data fed into the model,” said Ivan Yuen, Expertise and Innovation Manager at fifty-five.

The study found that overcoming challenges related to data quality and availability is “essential for successful AI adoption” by Hong Kong companies, Yuen said. He added that poor data quality and availability can result in misleading insights and bias generated by AI.

The results show that Hong Kong businesses have a long way to go in terms of AI adoption compared with the aggressive adoption of the technology on the mainland.

Hong Kong enterprises have a lot of catching up to do in terms of adopting artificial intelligence to transform the local economy. Photo: Shutterstock — Hong Kong businesses have a long way to go in adopting AI to transform the local economy. Photo: Shutterstock

Meanwhile, ChatGPT creator OpenAI has measures to block attempts have been tightened from “unsupported countries and territories,” including mainland China and Hong Kong, to access its generative AI services. This is expected to further complicate efforts by Hong Kong developers to build AI apps.

The survey of fifty-five people also found that the lack of adequate resources and skills is a major problem hindering the wider implementation of AI in the city.