Dive Brief:
- Artificial intelligence occupies a complicated place at work, according to findings from a joint survey by Express Employment Professionals and Harris Poll. While the majority of hiring managers told pollsters they expect generative AI to improve efficiency, 62% also said that AI automation could “diminish their company’s brand personality.”
- But the vast majority of job seekers surveyed — 90% — said they have growing concerns about AI, citing fears about AI dependence, a lack of entry-level jobs and lost problem-solving abilities due to the technology.
- Researchers noted that there is a “constructive path forward.” Hiring managers said they see AI as a way to make workflow more efficient, not necessarily reduce head count, per survey results, though that outlook also “depends on whether businesses invest in training and prepare workers to use AI alongside the skills technology cannot replace,” the company said.
Dive Insight:
Various studies have tried to capture whether generative AI helps improve productivity in the long term. For example, 3 in 4 knowledge workers polled by Glean’s AI Work Institute said AI makes them productive, but only 13% could say that their organization is performing “significantly better” due to AI.
Glean researchers said that workflow now includes labor they call “botsitting,” or spending time managing the tools or their output. In this same vein, a recent report by Penn State University and the University of Southern California highlighted how certain kinds of AI work that feels meaningless, such as copy-and-pasting AI outputs, can reduce employees’ sense of ownership on the job — aligning with Express Employment Professionals-Harris Poll’s finding that negative feelings toward AI at work remain, despite supposed productivity gains.
And more than productivity or engagement worries, AI is also fostering concerns regarding risk and compliance. Litigation risk around AI especially was of notice, according to a report by Norton Rose Fulbright, with leaders expressing the need for “litigation readiness.”
