Most workers in the UK feel positive about the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) yet many also feel ‘overwhelmed’, according to a new study.
The study, commissioned by Henley Business School, surveyed more than 4,500 full-time workers and professionals from almost 30 different employment sectors.
It found that more than half (56%) said they felt optimistic about AI in the workplace.
Nearly two thirds (61%) said they do not fear losing their jobs to AI, with 37% believing that AI would boost their productivity.
57% said they expect to have to rely on AI within the next five years, however they feel about it.
At the same time, 61% of workers surveyed said they feel overwhelmed by AI.
Common frustrations with the technology cited during the survey included the perceptions that AI could be wrong, that it needed reliable data to work well and that it might take away jobs.
Just over a third (36%) of respondents were concerned about their own job due to AI.
Majority of professionals already using AI at work
When it comes to current deployment of AI in the workplace, nearly two thirds (63%) said they are already using AI at work, whether routinely or on an ad hoc basis.
Respondents are currently using AI tools for an average of 3.5 hours per week, with a fifth (19%) using the technology for six hours or more.
AI is used for a variety of tasks, including research (cited by 35% of respondents who used AI), data analysis (33%) and content creation (32%).
The thing most people who used it liked about AI was its ability to help with boring tasks, cited by 33% of users.
60% of respondents overall said they would embrace AI more if they had better training, while 20% said they lacked confidence that they would be able to stay up to speed with the advancement of AI in the workplace.
This figure rose to 33% for workers in both teaching and education (33%), and the charity and voluntary sector.
Prof Keiichi Nakata of Henley Business School said: "This wide-scale study offers a valuable snapshot of how AI is being adopted across UK industries - and where support is still lacking.
"Without in-house training, hands-on learning, and clear policies, we risk creating a workforce that's willing to use AI but is not sure where to start."
Today’s news was brought to you by TD SYNNEX – the UK’s number one solutions distributor.
Read more of our latest Artificial Intelligence news stories
