No one should be surprised when the Joe Biden administration stakes out policy ground that diverges greatly from the views and well-being of small businesses. That’s been the case on a wide array of issues — from taxes to regulations to intellectual property and more. Now we see it again regarding advancements in artificial intelligence.

According to the results of a Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council survey about AI adoption, 75 percent of small businesses use AI tools for an array of business functions. As noted in the report: “Among users of AI solutions, financial management tools (40 percent) are the most commonly used. AI-powered email marketing automation (32 percent), cybersecurity (32 percent) and inventory management (28 percent) are also widely used tools. On average, small businesses use four AI tools, and the survey identified nearly 20 different areas where AI is being used to support business operations.”

As for key reasons cited by small business owners for adopting AI tools, 54 percent said it was their own research, peer influence and comfort with technology; 51 percent cited time and cost savings; 29 percent noted competitive pressures; 26 percent said inflationary pressures; 25 percent highlighted high labor costs; and 19 percent pointed to augmenting skilled labor or lack of access to skill labor.

In general, 82 percent of small business owners found AI tools provided benefits in running and growing their businesses, and 93 percent said AI tools offered solutions that lowered costs and improved profitability.

Small business owners reported a median weekly savings of 13 employee hours due to AI tools and pegged the median weekly time saved by small business owners themselves at 13 hours. Those savings came in at a conservatively estimated 6.33 billion hours in owner and employee time saved or better used and translated into estimated savings of $273.5 billion annually.

The history of innovation in our economy indicates that even the additional more expansive and speculative savings estimates included in this report could be naively conservative. While no one can know the exact numbers in terms of future productivity gains from AI, understanding how free enterprise works means we can count on entrepreneurs building on gains with AI innovations in ways few can imagine. The results will be transformative.

As innovations create real and significant potential for generating savings in time and money, these results ultimately mean enhanced productivity for entrepreneurs and their employees. These gains in turn fuel enhanced earnings for owners and workers. Advancements in AI fit in with the history of innovation, as investments open up new opportunities for entrepreneurs, businesses, employees and consumers.

As highlighted in the report, the resulting benefits are quite real: “Time saved on human capital has allowed small business owners to redirect employee time to higher-value work (41 percent), invest in innovative solutions for customer engagement and retention (39 percent), invest in new equipment and technology (37 percent), keep prices stable for customers (36 percent), pursue growth opportunities (34 percent), increase wages and benefits (25 percent), set aside capital for emergencies and other purposes (25 percent) and pay down debt more quickly (20 percent).”

Having pointed out the opportunities offered to entrepreneurs, their employees and the economy, the survey also found that 85 percent of small businesses agreed government must balance regulation and innovation in AI.

While small businesses look for balance in regulating AI, not wishing to stifle innovation, President Biden’s executive order on AI points to sweeping government regulation and interference. The order is rich in vagueness and potentially sweeping government intervention and controls, including government reviews that seem to pose clear threats to innovation and intellectual property in the U.S. The order seems destined to inflict interference, roadblocks and inefficiencies; foundations being established for expanded workplace regulation; more uncertainty and costs thanks to hyperactive antitrust regulation; and further diverting trade agreements from properly being means to reducing government costs and interference to actually increasing such governmental burdens.

This regulate-on-all-fronts philosophy is a recipe for undercutting entrepreneurship, innovation, investment and U.S. global leadership in AI and related technology. Based on the extraordinary value AI provides, small businesses and their employees would suffer from such government interference.