Assessing the Awareness of AI's Impact on Business and Society in a Developing Economy

This research paper evaluates the awareness level and adoption willingness that citizens of a developing economy have when it comes to AI automation.

AI is expected to boost economic growth, and since developed economies are expected to capture more economic benefits because they have more infrastructure than developing economies, it is interesting to discover where developing economies stand, starting by its individual units: people. In order to do so, AI case studies have been provided from companies across the globe to show the current capabilities of AI in the corporate world. AI also poses a lot of sets of issues like bias, access and use, decision making and regulations, privacy, and unemployment. This paper aims to find out the priority of concerns in a developing economy, which is unemployment, rightfully so. Primary data was collected in form of a survey to quantify perceptions, following the positivist research philosophy. The main weakness of the primary data is the low number of participants. Results showcase that respondents of the Developing Economy of Morocco are quite aware of AI and its relevance, although have a limited knowledge of the topic. The outlook is neutral to optimistic, and have mixed opinions on whether AI will remain a tool or might become conscious one day. Results also show that respondents are willing to use AI tools at work and have robots around, whether at work or delivering packages, but are not overall comfortable with personality mimicking AI. Respondents also consider that the local government will encourage AI in the workplace, which is accurate. The perceived impact of AI on work is mostly negative: respondents expected AI automation to lead to more job loss than job creation, although this is the opposite of McKinsey's research. AI automation will however displace low skilled workers, and potential solutions are presented like including AI in the high school curriculum, having companies provide training on AI, or having the Government provide universal basic income. This research paper concludes with pointers for further research, like expanding the sample of participants, and finding out the infrastructure AI requires with quotes and time estimates.