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While executives are keeping AI top of mind for their investments and goals, workers seem to be less excited about AI at work, according to a new survey from Slack.
The popular work communication platform asked over 17,000 desk workers around the world about their feelings and experiences with AI. The responses suggested stalling levels of AI adoption and a lack of AI training.
Here are five interesting takeaways from the survey, which was administered by Qualtrics and did not target Slack or Salesforce employees or customers.
Despite artificial intelligence staying a priority for many executives, with 99% surveyed saying they will invest in AI this year, desk worker enthusiasm is decelerating.
According to the report, excitement rates about AI have dropped six percentage points globally over the past three months. In particular, the number of US workers who said they're "excited about AI helping them to complete tasks at work" dropped from 45% to 36%.
The US also saw its AI adoption rates increase by only a single percentage point, from 32% to 33% among desk workers. In the report, Christina Janzer, head of Slack's Workforce Lab, said that the stalling growth in AI usage and interest is a "real wakeup call" for leaders.
When it comes to daily work tasks like writing messages or brainstorming ideas, 48% of surveyed desk workers said they would be "uncomfortable" admitting to their manager that they're using AI for at least one of those activities.
Employees said they were concerned that bosses may view them as "less competent" or lazy, and 47% said they felt that using AI was "cheating."
A previous Slack survey of over 10,000 workers found that 2 in 5 employees reported that their workplace has no AI policy. The lack of guidelines has led many workers to err on the side of caution — especially with some instances of people being fired for using AI.
While execs rush to incorporate AI into their companies, workers might not be adequately equipped to keep up.
The survey also found that 61% of workers have spent less than five hours learning how to use AI, while 30% said they haven't had any AI instruction.
This could become a major oversight as AI continues to affect jobs. A 2023 report by the World Economic Forum estimated that 44% of workers' skills will be "disrupted" within five years.
The Slack study found that "learning and skill building" ranked first on lists of activities that executives wanted workers to prioritize and lists of what workers wished AI gave them more time to concentrate on.
Ninety-seven percent of executives surveyed say they feel "some level of urgency" to mix AI into their business operations.
Yet though AI has been able to save professionals time on more menial activities, like writing messages, workers in the survey said the extra free time may be filled with even more tasks and result in a higher workload.
When asked which common work task AI is best at assisting, administration was the top answer. But when asked what workers would do with the potential time saved by AI, respondents said they would spend those hours on even more administrative tasks.
According to the survey, 81% of AI users said they ask AI for assistance or advice rather than a friend or peer. The main drivers of the trend were Gen Zers and millennials, with 30% and 33% respectively frequently consulting AI in place of a colleague.
Slack's survey included 17,372 workers in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the US. It was fielded between August 2-August 30, 2024.
