'These are early days, but AI appears to be delivering on its promise'
Generative artificial intelligence is saving workers about an hour of work each day, on average.
But there are some workers who are saving more than one hour from work thanks to the technology, according to a recent report from the Adecco Group.
Overall, one in five users say the technology is saving them as many as two hours a day, and 5% say it is saving them between three and four hours each day.
"There has been a huge amount of speculation about how AI is changing the world of work, which is why it is tremendously exciting to see these first potential signs of efficiency improvements,” says Denis Machuel, Adecco Group CEO.
“The time saved by workers seems to have been put to good use and is not just confined to one or two sectors but appears widespread across industries. These are early days, but AI appears to be delivering on its promise."
How does AI help employees?
And workers are putting the time they save from using AI to good use:
- 28% use it for more creative work
- 26% use it on strategic thinking
- 27% say it helps them achieve a better work/life balance.
However, there are signs that the time saved thanks to AI is not always put to productive use, with 23% of users saying that they were tackling the same workload and 21% saying they are spending more time on personal activities.
Nearly three-quarters (74%) of enterprises using GenAI report return on investment within the first year, with an additional 30 to 35% expecting ROI on Gen AI investments within the next 12 months, according to a previous Google Cloud survey.
Despite the positives that AI brings, 13% of workers have lost their jobs because of the technology, according to Adecco Group’s global survey of 35,000 respondents from 27 countries, including 1,000 in Canada.
About 60% of the Canadian workforce might be in jobs highly exposed to AI, according to an expert from Statistics Canada (StatCan).
AI training needed
And despite workers believing that leaders are more responsible than they are for educating them about changing the world of work, just 25% of workers have completed training on how to apply AI at work, according to the Adecco report.
Source: Adecco
“As we move into an age shaped increasingly by artificial intelligence (AI), employees around the world are adapting to a new reality where change is measured in months rather than years. Adjusting, adapting and re-skilling are now in almost constant flux,” says Machuel.
“Employers too face quickly evolving challenges that must be overcome to reap the real productivity gains promised by AI while at the same time guiding staff to reach their full potential in the workplace.”