Artificial intelligence adoption surges in Italian artisan sector

Artificial intelligence adoption has seen a record increase of 224.8% over the last two years among artisan businesses with more than ten employees in the Treviso region of Italy, according to a Confartigianato survey. During the same period, big data and data analysis usage rose by 60.5%, while cloud computing grew by 21.2%. AI is being integrated into various business functions, most notably marketing and sales (33.1%), administrative processes (25.7%), and research and development (20%).

Despite this growth, regional adoption at 14.2% remains below the European Union average of 17.8%. Key challenges identified include a lack of skills (58.6%), a shortage of specialized labor (55.2%), ethical concerns (25%), and potential impacts on employment (24.7%).

In a separate development, the CGIL trade union in Catania has launched a territorial investigation to assess how AI, robotics, and algorithms are altering work tasks, rhythms, and organization. The study uses anonymous questionnaires to examine the concrete consequences of technology on professional autonomy, workload, stress, and safety, as well as the transparency of corporate algorithms.