Research reveals AI 'appears to be delivering on its promise'
The implementation of artificial intelligence in the workplace is saving employees around an hour each day, according to a new report from The Adecco Group.
The report, which surveyed 35,000 workers in 27 markets, revealed the early signs of efficiency gains from implementing AI in the workplace, including time saved from using the technology.
"The average time saved per day by using AI is one hour," the report read.
It further revealed that 21% of the respondents are saving between 45 and 60 minutes, while 20% are able to save between one and two hours.
Source: Working through change: Adapting to an AI-driven world of work
By sector, employees in the energy, utilities, and clean technology sectors reported the highest time saved, with 75 minutes a day. Others reported:
- Tech sector (66 minutes a day)
- Manufacturing sector (62 minutes)
- Financial services sector (57 minutes)
- Aerospace and defence sector (52 minutes)
"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," said Denis Machuel, chief executive officer of The Adecco Group, in a statement.
Using time saved with AI
With employees saving an average of an hour each day, the report found employees are able to spend their free time to be more productive. In fact, 73% of workers who use AI said it makes them more productive at work.
Among the activities that they carry out from the time saved by using AI include checking their work's quality and accuracy (29%) and carrying out more creative work (28%).
Source: Working through change: Adapting to an AI-driven world of work
"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," Machuel said.
The Adecco Group's findings, however, complement recent findings from other reports that the majority of global enterprises that use GenAI are seeing payoffs within the first year of its implementation.
They come in the wake of recent doubts about AI's benefits to workplaces as some executives get impatient with AI's return on investment.
A previous report from Gartner even predicted that at least 30% of GenAI projects would be abandoned by the end of 2025 amid the challenges in developing and deploying the technology.