European Central Bank blog finds AI use is widespread among large euro area firms but regular employee uptake remains low and productivity gains hinge on readiness

The European Central Bank published an ECB Blog post presenting new evidence on firm adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and how it may translate into productivity growth. Using results from the June 2024 Corporate Telephone Survey (CTS), it finds that while many large euro area firms report using AI, routine use by employees is still limited, leaving economy-wide productivity effects uncertain. Around 75% of surveyed firms, drawn from the largest in the euro area, report using AI in daily operations, but most say that fewer than 25% of their employees use it regularly; common applications include improving access to information and creating customised web content, and most firms do not plan to reduce headcount because of AI. The post also points to a size divide from Eurostat survey evidence, with less than 12% of small EU enterprises using at least one AI technology compared with more than 40% of large firms. On potential macro productivity effects, it notes published estimates ranging from 0.07 percentage points to 1.5 percentage points per year, and illustrates a mid-range estimate of around 0.35 percentage points per year for the euro area (around 3.5 percentage points over ten years), which it then scales down when accounting for country conditions using the International Monetary Fund’s AI preparedness index and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development productive capacities index, to around 3.1 percentage points over ten years when either index is applied and 2.9 percentage points when both are. The post is part of an ECB miniseries linked to the ECB conference “The Transformative Power of AI” on 1-2 April 2025.