Intense AI use still rare among euro zone firms, ECB researchers find

FRANKFURT, June 24 (Reuters) - Only a small fraction of euro zone firms use artificial intelligence intensely and they tend to be small, young, service-oriented companies, leaving plenty of room for diffusion, a European Central Bank blog post said on Wednesday.

The vast majority of firms now say they have been using AI but economists have been debating just how intense this use is and whether it can yield the sort of efficiency gains that are relevant on a macroeconomic level.

Surveying more than 5,000 companies across the bloc, the ECB found that over 70% report using AI and much of the rest plan to start this year. But use is moderate or infrequent and only 7% use AI intensely, the survey found.

"The intensive use that drives transformation and generates macroeconomic gains remains rare," the authors, all ECB researchers, said, in a post that does not necessarily represent the ECB's views.

Intense use is skewed towards smaller companies with large firms clearly lagging behind, the survey results showed. Younger firms also used AI more intensely than older companies and use was skewed towards high-tech, knowledge-intensive services.

"Firms at an early stage of adoption often cite cost reductions and improvements in operational efficiency as their main reasons for using it," the blog said. "Intensive users are more frequently motivated by growth and innovation."

Firms tend to invest in AI when their competitors do, succumbing to peer pressure, and intensive users spend heavily on customised solutions that go well beyond just purchasing licences, the blog said.

(Reporting by Balazs KoranyiEditing by Tomasz Janowski)