- Splunk research indicates a rise in AI adoption among organisations but suggests trust remains a barrier to future adoption.
- Every respondent to the survey was either using, testing, planning, or investigating AI technologies.
- Key concerns include building trust in AI systems, data privacy and security, system reliability, and data quality.
- Trust and reliability, particularly concerning AI-enabled cybersecurity tools, were identified as primary concerns by decision-makers (48% public sector, 36% private sector).
- Public sector AI priorities for 2024 include continuous monitoring, threat intelligence solutions, and developing incident response plans.
- An overwhelming 78% of respondents believe global ethical principles should guide AI regulation, not individual nation-states.
- Automation is a main driving factor for AI use, with 44% of the private sector and 53% of the public sector either using or interested in using AI for this purpose.
The research from Splunk also revealed that compared to other emerging technologies, the rate of AI adoption among federal agencies (79%) is similar to the adoption across the public sector (83%). Findings illustrate that similar AI goals and challenges exist between the public and private sectors, thus creating a more homogenous landscape in the application of AI technologies.
Cybersecurity is identified as a top use case for AI, with 80% of respondents claiming that their organisations were addressing cybersecurity priorities with AI. AI-enabled monitoring, risk assessment, and analysis of threat data were cited as the main applications for AI in this field.
However, despite the surge in AI adoption across sectors, the study suggests a lack of trust and clear regulation continues to hamper further uptake. As Bill Rowan, VP of Splunk Public Sector, Splunk, pointed out, “the push and pull between eagerness to innovate and hesitancy to venture blindly into the unknown will continue to hinder AI innovation until we have a clear body of general principles and rules for AI technology use and adoption.”
