Study shock! AI hinders productivity and makes working worse

Bosses expect artificial intelligence software to improve productivity, but workers say the tool does the opposite, according to a survey by find-a-workplace research org the Upwork Research Institute, a limb of talent-finding platform Upwork.

The survey elicited responses from 2,500 workers across the US, UK, Australia, and Canada. Half of respondents were C-suite execs, a quarter worked full time and the remained were freelancers. Respondents represent different age groups and genders, but all were required to have completed high school and to use a computer for their work at least “sometimes.”

Findings include that C-suite executives are asking more of workers – 81 percent of 1,250 executive respondents acknowledge as much, according to the survey.

Bosses are urging employees to increase their output with the help of AI tools (37 percent), to expand their skill sets (35 percent), take on a wide range of responsibilities (30 percent), return to the office (27 percent), work more efficiently (26 percent), and work more hours (20 percent).

The managerial productivity push has left workers feeling unable to cope and burned out.

"Seventy-one percent are burned out and nearly two-thirds (65 percent) report struggling with increasing employer demands," according to the survey. "Alarmingly, one in three employees say they will likely quit their jobs in the next six months because they are burned out or overworked."

Employees appear to share management’s optimism for AI, with 65 percent predicting machine learning will make them more productive. But there's a gap between belief and reality.

Some 47 percent of workers who use AI tools say they have no idea how to deliver the expected productivity gains. And more than three out of four workers (77 percent) say AI tools have made them less productive while increasing their workload.

Thirty-nine percent of survey respondents said they're spending more time reviewing or moderating AI-generated content, 23 percent said they're investing time learning how to use AI tools, and 21 percent said they're being asked to do more work.

"Forty percent of employees feel their company is asking too much of them when it comes to AI," the Institute’s summary of the survey states.

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The report apportions some blame to executives for overestimating employee readiness to adopt AI tools. While 37 percent of C-suite leaders at companies using AI rated their workforce as skilled and comfortable when using AI tools, only 17 percent of employees shared that sentiment.

Tellingly, while 96 percent of execs said they see AI tools improving productivity, only 26 percent operate workplace AI training programs, and only 13 percent reported "a well-implemented AI strategy." In the boardroom, AI seems to encourage magical thinking.

Meanwhile, in the trenches, 38 percent of staff said they felt overwhelmed by the demand to use AI at work.

The Upwork report suggests that AI isn't a simple productivity fix. Rather, organizations need to understand the technology and develop processes that help staff to benefit.

"Our research shows that introducing new technologies into outdated work models and systems is failing to unlock the full expected productivity value of AI," wrote Kelly Monahan, managing director of The Upwork Research Institute, in a statement. "While it's certainly possible for AI to simultaneously boost productivity and improve employee well-being, this outcome will require a fundamental shift in how we organize talent and work."

Coincidentally, the Institute – part of the Upwork platform for hiring freelance workers – suggests that hiring freelance workers can help. "When compared with full-time employees, more freelancers claim to be AI-ready," the report claims.

And if freelancers get burned out, there are always fresh freelancers on the shelf. ®