Is the market for artificial intelligence (AI) really as large as the big tech companies would like us to believe? If this week’s data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) is anything to go by, perhaps not, at least in the Republic.
The latest data published on Information Society Statistics shows only 20 per cent of Irish enterprises said they were using AI in 2025, up from 15 per cent a year earlier. Contrary to what you might expect, the majority of these organisations weren’t using the technology for automating their workflows. Data mining was the most common artificial intelligence technology used, followed by natural language generation. AI assistance in workflows or helping to make decisions was only third on the list, at 6.2 per cent.
The technology has been having a tough time of it recently. Its case has not been helped in any way by the recent headlines around xAI’s Grok, which was using its vast power and intelligence to digitally undress photographs of women – and in some cases, underage girls – at the behest of people on X.
There was also a large gap between the use of artificial intelligence in large enterprises and that of smaller companies. While it would make more sense for small companies to embrace the automated technologies, given the constraints on resources, the CSO data show AI was more commonly used among large firms at 58 per cent versus 17 per cent of small companies.
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The data might come as a surprise if you have been watching studies breathlessly claiming that AI use is on a steep upward rise and set to revolutionise the Irish workplace.
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But look closer. A survey from PwC in December said the Republic was lagging the rest of the world when it comes to the adoption of AI at work. That seems to chime more closely with the CSO findings. PwC found daily use of generative AI was relatively low, both in the State – 10 per cent – and globally (14 per cent). And AI agents, which are software systems that take autonomous actions to achieve goals, were only being used by 3 per cent of workers in the State, and 6 per cent globally.
There has been an increase in usage of the technology, which should be some cause for optimism among the AI companies. But its use isn’t exactly streaking ahead. If you were feeling generous, you might say it is still early days for many of these technologies, and it will take some time for the tools to prove themselves.
And if so, then perhaps the billions of euro being poured into backing these companies will take longer to pay off than they might have thought.
