Research Digested – AI at Work: It’s Here and It’s Working, Whether You Know It or Not

A snapshot of useful research for L&D and workplace professionals . . .

Why read this report

This report shares some useful insights on employees’ perceptions of AI and how they want to use the technology at work.

About this research

UKG surveyed more than 4,000 employees in 10 countries, including C-suite executives and people managers, about their real and perceived use of AI.

Standout stats

There are lost of useful stats in this research. These include:

  • 63% of employees say AI would increase job satisfaction and engagement, but 54% have no idea how their company is using it
  • 78% of C-suite leaders say their organisation is using AI today.
  • Executives estimate 56% of their workforce is directly using AI to automate or augment job tasks.
  • Only 42% of employees globally think they’re using AI-powered devices in their day-to-day work.
  • 3 out of 4 employees would be more accepting/excited about AI if their company was more transparent about the direct ways AI could improve their workflow (78%), and how their organisation is using AI (75%).

The research reveals a perception problem with AI. Less than half of employees (44%) believe they interact with AI in their personal lives, even though at least 90% say they’ve used at least one of the following: maps and navigation (66%), predictive product/entertainment suggestions, such as in Netflix and Spotify (50%), text editors or autocorrect (47%), virtual home assistants, such as Alexa and Google Assistant (46%), or intelligent chatbots (31%).

Employees willing to embrace AI at work say that it would increase their:

  • Engagement/job satisfaction (63%)
  • Willingness to go above and beyond (55%)
  • Overall happiness (54%)
  • Desire to stay with their company long term (49%)
  • Trust in their company/leadership (48%).

Final word

This research highlights an AI perception problem with nearly half of employees believing they do not interact with AI outside of work even though they use AI-powered technologies such as maps and Spotify. There is a job to be done educating employees about how AI tools are used at work. The good news is that this is something employees want – they want more transparency around how AI could improve work processes.

Now is the time to help employees understand the opportunities of AI – they are ready to learn and willing to experiment.

Report Reading time: 3 minutes

Media: Article

Link: https://www.silicon.co.uk/press-release/ai-at-work-its-here-and-its-working-whether-you-know-it-or-not

Picture credit: qimono