A recent roundup of headlines about artificial intelligence shows tales of AI gone rogue, from the AI assistant that almost deleted the entire inbox of a Meta SuperIntelligence AI executive to the AI agent who applied for almost 300 jobs (in addition to signing up for Hotmail and a LinkedIn account) all on its own. 

These stories are great fodder for late-night talk show hosts and underscore the reality that AI still needs a human handler in how the technology is used in business. 

This is important, because at a societal level, trust in AI varies around the world.

According to Edelman’s Trust Barometer, trust in AI was highest in India, Nigeria, Thailand and China. For all of those nations, trust came in above 70 percent. 

The U.S. came in at 32 percent.

At work, AI sentiment varies by both gender and generation.

According to a study from Northeastern University, women are more skeptical of artificial intelligence and its adoption in the workplace than men — but only when faced with uncertain economic outcomes from the technology.

It found that women were about 11 percent more likely than men to perceive AI’s risks as outweighing the benefits. When asked open-ended responses about AI’s risks and benefits, women were more likely than men to express uncertainty and skepticism. At the decision-making level of organizations, however, Deloitte’s latest State of AI report stated that 84 percent of businesses are increasing investments in AI and 78 percent of leaders are reporting a greater level of confidence.  

What if all of us, not just women and not just men, balanced that skepticism with curiosity and an ethical approach to testing and adopting AI?  We would likely see an increase in efficiency and a shift in attitudes toward responsible AI use. If women hesitate to build skills and experiment with these tools, we risk seeing a new kind of gap emerge as organizations accelerate their investment in AI transformation.

A year ago, there was an interesting swing in attitudes and perceptions about AI from the youngest generations in the workplace. 

Early last year, it was reported that 31 percent of Millennial and Gen Z U.S. employees admitted to sabotaging their company’s AI strategy by refusing to adopt AI tools.

By mid-year, these younger generations were hiding their AI use because they felt it gave them a secret advantage or they were afraid of getting more work. 

By the end of last year, the sentiment had shifted entirely. 

Younger generations were demanding better AI systems that are less generic and tailored to how Gen Z and Millennials actually write and speak. This personalization, along with easy integration with relevant personal information that can help them pull work together from emails, planning documents and meeting notes is now a must have; 90 percent said they would be more inclined or much more inclined to use AI at work if it was more personalized.

Speaking of personalized AI experiences, here at IFPA, we have invested in artificial intelligence to help us build capacity and become even more efficient, but it is beyond that. It’s ensuring that every member has the power to see around corners, anticipate trends and act faster with confidence. The reality is our industry cannot and will not be left behind.

This is why last October at the Global Produce & Floral Show, we launched our Global Intelligence Engine to help our members uncover insights from our deep database of industry and consumer research.  

It delivers data-backed, current insights for fruits, vegetables and floral products. From POS data and consumer trends to import/export flows and production patterns, it transforms complex datasets into clear answers, visualizations and recommendations, helping our members spot opportunities, stay ahead of shifts and make faster, smarter decisions.

If your company is an IFPA member, you have unlimited access to this tool regardless of career level, job title or the opportunities that come with your day-to-day work. In that sense, AI can be a great equalizer across gender, generation and career stage.

Still, the difference between information and transformation is not just the tools we use, but the people using them. AI cannot replace human insight, creativity or leadership. It can, however, amplify them.

The future of our industry will belong to those who combine emerging technology with the uniquely human ability to ask better questions, and act on what we learn. Artificial intelligence may power the tools, but human intelligence will still determine what we do with them.