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89% of tech execs see synthetic data as a key to staying ahead

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Nearly nine in ten (89%) technology decision makers who use vision data agree synthetic data is a new and innovative technology and believe that organizations that fail to adopt synthetic data are at risk of falling behind the curve, according to new research by Synthesis AI in conjunction with Vanson Bourne. Technology leaders agree that synthetic data will be an essential enabling technology and key to staying ahead.

Image with text (some in caption). Says data labeling costs organizations $2.3 million annually. 16 weeks is the average length of time spent to conduct supervised learning on a new project. As mentioned, decisionmakers believe a few significant benefits of using synthetic data would be improved productivity, improved data quality, better/faster model development, and data labeling, highlighting how synthetic data could be a solution.

Above: Synthetic Data could be a solution to the time consuming and cost prohibitive nature of supervised learning.

AI is driven by the speed, diversity, and quality of data. However, supervised learning approaches commonly used to train AI systems today are fundamentally limited, as humans do not scale and, more importantly, cannot label key attributes necessary to enable emerging industries such as AR/VR, autonomous vehicles, robotics, and more.

The survey revealed that synthetic data, or computer-generated image data that models the real world, could be a solution to the time consuming and cost prohibitive nature of supervised learning. Out of the respondents knowledgeable of synthetic data technologies, 50% believe a benefit of synthetic data is overcoming limited labels provided through supervised learning/human annotation, and 82% recognize their organization is at risk when they collect ‘real world’ data.

Further, the report identified a lack of organizational knowledge (67%) and slow buy-in from colleagues (67%) as the most prominent entry barriers when using synthetic data. Synthetic data is just beginning its cycle of adoption and value to the enterprise, and many industries are beginning to experiment with the technology. Buy-in from colleagues and decision makers will be critical for synthetic data to be accepted.

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Despite the identified barriers, more than half (59%) of decisionmakers believe their industry will utilize synthetic data either independently or in combination with ‘real world’ data in the next five years.

The report presents findings and takeaways from a survey of 100 senior executives with decision making power across functions such as IT, financial services, retail, business and professional services, construction, technology, energy, manufacturing, automotive, consumer services, and media. Participants were primarily from organizations with 500-999 employees (30%) and 1,000-2,999 employees (31%).

Read the full report by Synthesis.