IMPLEMENTATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) AMONG SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (SMEs) IN ONDO CENTRAL, ONDO STATE

Temitope Mercy Kehinde (PhD), Doris Tubokun Akinnodi, Ayodeji Abraham Oluwadare

Abstract


This study examines implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) in business among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Ondo central. The purpose of the study was to examine challenges encountered by SMEs in implementing AI in business. Three research questions guided the study and no hypothesis were formulated. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study comprised of 150 managers and employees of small and medium enterprises in Ondo central. There was no sample since the population size was manageable. The instrument for data collection was a 23-items structured questionnaire titled: Implementation of AI among small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Questionnaire (IAISMESQ) and was validated by experts and was further subjected to internal consistency testing using Cronbach Alpha statistics which yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.74.The instrument was further administered to the respondents by the researchers.Mean and standard deviationwere employed to analyze the data gathered. Findings revealed that AI offers significant value to small, local and service industries by enhancing efficiency, improving customer experience and creating new business opportunities. Challenges such as lack of data privacy, high cost and lack of expertise were revealed. Coping strategies such as using low cost or open source AI tools, outsourcing AI implementation to service providers were also revealed. It was concluded that AI is a powerful tool for small businesses to thrive in competitive markets. It was therefore recommended that there is need for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) managers to work toward effective implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) into their business operation in order to foster economic growth and development.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Challenges, Coping Strategies, implementation and Small and Medium enterprises (SMEs).


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