Without water, the average human would die after about five days. Without energy, our society as we know it would collapse. But what about a world without AI? According to British business leaders, the consequences would be equally catastrophic.
A new report by London-based software firm Endava, surveying 500 entrepreneurs, found that two-thirds of respondents rank AI as socially vital — on par with water and electricity.
A whopping 93% of the respondents want industry and government to implement AI as fast as possible. Meanwhile, 84% of say they use AI as a “companion” or conversation partner at least once a month, while two-thirds trust AI to make fully automated decisions about their lives.
However, nearly all respondents (96%) believe that global AI adoption needs oversight from an independent international body, and 94% want that body to be government-led. At the same time, more than half (55%) warn that existing infrastructure limitations could hold back AI’s full potential.
Endava’s CTO, Matt Cloke, described the results as “fascinating,” noting the tension between trust in AI and the desire for guardrails.
”Many are not only using AI regularly, but are relying on it to support both business-critical and deeply personal decisions,” he said. “But people want to see the right frameworks in place before AI becomes fully embedded in society.”
The findings come amid a surge in AI investment — and a growing hype bubble — as the technology permeates virtually every corner of our lives. Increasingly, AI is being considered as critical infrastructure.
In 2018 — four years before the launch of ChatGPT sparked the GenAI boom — Google CEO Sundar Pichai predicted artificial intelligence would have a more profound impact on the world than “electricity or fire.” Last year, Nvidia boss Jensen Huang called AI “the most important technology of our time.”
Nevertheless, some tech leaders are not so optimistic. Geoffrey Hinton, often called the “godfather of AI,” recently warned that there was a 10-20% chance that AI would wipe out humanity within the next 30 years. Stephen Hawking, two years before his death, said that artificially intelligent machines would be “either the best or worst thing to happen to humanity.” Even Elon Musk has called AI an “existential threat.”
Whether AI turns out to be society’s next electricity or its next wildfire remains to be seen. But if Endava’s survey is anything to go by, UK business leaders are betting on the former.