Even as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes an unavoidable part of the cultural landscape, its role in the workplace hasn’t been fully defined, and that lack of clarity is leaving some employees on edge, according to new research from Provo-based experience management platform Qualtrics.
The speed at which generative pretrained transformer (GPT) technology attracted users was nearly unprecedented as people signed up to explore its potential. This speed has also led to challenges for business leaders who are racing to understand how their organizations can take advantage of this new technology. For example, fixing inefficient processes and technology can relieve symptoms of employee burnout, the study said.
The study found that among workers, executives are most looking forward to the potential impact of AI, with 64 percent characterizing AI as exciting. Only 39 percent of individual contributors, on the other hand, say the potential impact of AI is exciting. They are more likely to say it’s scary (46 percent). By contrast, 30 percent of executives say it is scary.
Two-thirds of executives expect AI to have a positive impact on the overall employee experience, while only 35 percent of individual contributors share that optimism. Thirty-one percent of individual contributors say AI will have a negative effect.
“The excitement among executives about AI is not surprising given the promise of more efficiency, but the concerns of employees are also well-founded,” said Benjamin Granger, Qualtrics’ chief workplace psychologist. “Organizational leaders would be wise to remember that at their roots, organizations are simply groups of people and the bigger promise of AI is to help people be happier, healthier and more productive at work — outcomes that benefit everyone.”
The most common ways employees say AI technology can have a positive impact in the workplace are related to productivity, including automating routine tasks so they can focus on more complex work, as well as the ability to do faster and more advanced data analysis. With AI handling repetitive work, workers believe they will be expected to be more productive at work. In fact, 30 percent of executives say integrating AI into the workplace will significantly raise expectations for employee productivity.
The biggest concerns workers have about its impact are losing the human element to work (with 55 percent highlighting this as a potential negative effect) and workers losing their critical thinking skills (selected by 52 percent of employees).
The ultimate negative impact of AI on employees is it replacing jobs entirely. More than two-thirds of employees (68 percent) believe that some jobs are at risk because of AI, and 23 percent believe their own jobs are at risk.
As companies race to understand how they can incorporate AI, employees are feeling confused over what it means for them. Nearly 60 percent of employees say their company either doesn’t have a policy on using AI or they aren’t aware of such a policy, leaving them to try to figure out what is or isn’t allowed.
The Qualtrics study was conducted in May and June among more than 1,500 respondents. Respondents were selected from a randomized panel and considered eligible if they live in the United States, are at least 18 years of age and are working full-time.