All you do is talk about AI—why don’t you appl-AI it at work?
That’s the question brought up by new research from SaaS provider GoTo, which estimates businesses in the US are missing out on $2.9 trillion annually by not using AI to its full potential. GoTo CEO Rich Veldran told IT Brew that part of the problem is the tension between overpromising potential and the ability for the technology to change the workplace.
“In the moment, it’s a bit overhyped,” Veldran said. “If you go further, and talk to people, what you’ll find is most of them say that they believe that they’re not using it yet to its full extent, so they know there’s room for improvement.”
Pure power. One way to look at AI in the workplace is as a “force multiplier,” Ensono Expert Mainframe Innovation Engineer Steven Perva told IT Brew. It’s a weapon of choice for the workforce that can be deployed effectively—but not one that is necessarily coming for your job. For someone like Perva, developing code with AI assistance is a good reference to lean on.
“What took me 15 to 25 minutes has now taken me a handful of seconds,” Perva said. “I could be more productive, and I can get to my end goal much quicker. But the part that adds value to the business is still there.”
Locked in. The survey numbers offer a nuanced picture, with 78% of respondents saying they do use AI in the workplace. Veldran said the $2.9 trillion efficiency gap is from the potential savings of 13 hours a week per worker in the US workforce, but that’s only if used to its full potential, Veldran added. “The large majority, 82% in this case, said they don’t know quite how to use it in their specific function to maximize its impact.”
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“There’s an opportunity, and it’s not a technology problem, in our view, it’s more of a communications problem,” Veldran said. “How do you then train people? How do you give them, or customize, the tools so they can be used in specific work settings?”
There’s a disconnect in how the C-suite and workforce see AI, and GoTo’s survey results show it in detail. While 53% of IT leaders said they weren’t confident in AI’s accuracy and reliability, 86% of employees expressed reservations; IT leaders also overestimated how many workers are using AI to its full potential, with only 58% saying staff are underutilizing the technology, compared to 86% of the workforce saying the same.
Puzzle picture. Results varied depending on the size of the business, with larger firms seeing their employees more confident in usage reaching its full potential. Almost all (88%) employees said they would benefit from an AI virtual assistant, while only 43% say they currently have access. And how they’re using it is also a concern, with 54% surveyed admitting they are “improperly” deploying the tools for tasks.
“They know they shouldn’t use it for sensitive things like personnel decisions or legal matters in the work setting,” Veldran told IT Brew. “People acknowledge they probably shouldn’t be using it for these things, but there’s not a policy.”