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The more Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes a viable technological resource today, the more the debate grows around the results of adopting it in a mobile app through the lenses of efficiency and productivity.

The truth is that, on one hand, using AI enables the automation of a series of processes that are interesting for app development. On the other hand, there is a consensus that data-driven business models may struggle to fully benefit from the technology.

The problem is that, when it comes to such a robust solution, buying into promises without certainty of good results is risky—because AI is not cheap, and large-scale support systems for it can be considered almost non-existent today.

Still, it can be worth facing some of the challenges AI proposes when the company can afford the cost without harming app development or its assets—especially when there are high commercial expectations around the final product. In addition, it’s undeniable that AI is one of the best ways to personalize an app today and make it increasingly tailored to the end consumer.

Reasons why AI is still not used by companies in mobile apps

Saying no to AI inside a mobile app isn’t just about responding—or not—to the call of technological innovation: behind companies’ resistance to adopt this resource in their products there are several factors to take into account.

We’ve listed the three main ones so you can better map your company’s situation on the spectrum of AI usage in mobile apps.

1. Business model

The more undefined or imprecise a company’s business model is, the harder it will be to bet on AI as part of its strategy.

You need to clearly understand what the value proposition of adopting AI is for the company’s scope before choosing to include—or exclude—this possibility in upcoming mobile apps. The answer to that question will inevitably be found in the business model and the company’s mid- and long-term goals.

2. Lack of basic understanding of AI

It’s true that the field of AI is still somewhat nebulous, because historically it is a relatively recent piece of technology. And because it is so imprecise—AI is a broad concept and is usually represented by examples that differ from one another—many companies still don’t understand the reach of its applications.

Sometimes a company resists using AI in the final product because it doesn’t feel safe enough to adopt the technology, but it doesn’t realize it may already be using it in other parts of its development process.

In other words: even those who say they can’t or shouldn’t use AI in their products may be doing exactly that without even noticing. The risk of this lack of knowledge is failing to communicate to the end consumer the added value of an app that has AI built in.

3. AI is all or nothing

From the moment a company realizes it needs to use AI in its mobile apps—or understands that it has been doing so for some time—there is no escaping the reality that this resource doesn’t offer shortcuts. It is an expansion that must be seen as strategic.

An example: Apple was one of the early adopters of AI, and its demand for the resource has only grown since the first smartphone launch. Proof of that is that the iPhone X, presented at the time, had countless features that depended exclusively on AI and machine learning.

No one who enters that world has any other way out than investing more and more in AI infrastructure, especially because competitors follow with similar solutions based on it.

Moreover, the innovation brought by AI is not only about reducing the development cost of an app, but also—mainly—because it carries the promise of business growth.

Implementing AI in mobile app development processes is not easy or cheap, but it’s worth it for companies that want to be considered the pinnacle of technological innovation. But remember: adopting this resource will require organizational culture change, training, and commitment from the teams involved.

AI still doesn’t replace human work, but it depends on the support of the people involved so that the company can extract the greatest potential from the technology.