UK firms are dabbling with AI rather than transforming themselves, despite middle managers burbling about digital revolutions and clever machines.
Official data shows most businesses have not deepened their use of AI over the past two years. The tech has improved quickly, but much of corporate Britain appears to be poking it with a stick.
The Office for National Statistics said on Monday that overall AI adoption has widened. The average number of AI tools used by businesses has crept from 1.4 in 2023 to 1.6.
According to the Financial Times that is hardly the stuff of a productivity miracle. The statistics agency said the figures pointed to “limited transformative impacts for most AI-adopting firms”.
Large language models were the most widely used AI technology among businesses, with visual content creation coming next.
About 35 per cent of UK businesses with more than 10 staff now use AI. That is up from 12 per cent in September 2023. Among large companies, the share rises to 48 per cent. Even so, only a tenth of AI-using businesses said they used the technology “extensively”.
Only 15 per cent said that more than half of their staff used AI in their daily work. The figures suggest businesses mostly see AI as a cost-cutting gadget. They are less keen on using it to develop new products or to pursue new markets, which might deliver larger gains later.
Sixty per cent of firms answering a regular ONS survey said they used AI to improve operational efficiency. Fewer than one in five said they used it to develop new products or services.
Boston Consulting Group Centre for Growth director Raoul Ruparel said on X that the efficiency focus was “expected, but far from the most likely approach to generate long-term returns”. Ruparel said microbusinesses, those with fewer than 10 workers, were more likely to seek “more revenue-generating use cases”.
The data lands while economists squint at a recent improvement in the UK’s miserable productivity growth. Some claim AI is finally stirring the economy, while others blame job cuts in low-wage sectors.
The ONS figures make the AI renaissance story look a bit thin. Use of AI remains relatively low in retail and hospitality, where job losses have been most visible. Free AI tools were the most common choice in most sectors. Tech, professional services and construction were more likely to pay for external software or build models in-house.
The ONS found limited evidence that AI has hit overall employment, although creative, design, clerical and admin roles look more exposed. Businesses using AI for visual content creation and image processing were more likely to report job impacts.
