Within the digital workplace, AI assistance is ready for the taking (with corporate approval, of course). But in a recent study of 503 consumers in North America, Metrigy found that most aren’t using AI tools at work… at least not yet.
In the study, AI for Business Success – A Consumer Perspective, only 36.0% of participants said they are using AI in their workplace. This is a significant minority but a minority, nonetheless. The bulk of consumers (57.3%) said they are not using AI (the remaining 6.8% weren’t sure whether they were using AI or not).
Worth noting is that AI use in the workplace does vary considerably by age. More than half of participants under 55 are using AI, with usage dropping off sharply among the older set. Specifically, only 18.4% of those ranging in age from 55 to 64 and only 3.4% of those 65 or older said they use AI at work. Note, however, that these latter figures could include retirees.
Of those using AI, most do so via both integrated and standalone AI tools. Seventy percent take advantage of AI capabilities built into other tools. This includes products such as Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Slack AI, Zoom AI Companion, and many more. Standalone AI tools, such as ChatGPT, Dall-E, and Perplexity, are in use by a slightly smaller percentage, 64.6%. And, some 30%, say they’re using their company’s homegrown AI tools.
Among the many purposes AI might come into play at work, half said they’re using AI for research, while 35% or more are using it to generate content, create reports and insights from data, generate ideas, or compose emails and chats. No use dominates in terms of value; research tops the list, but only for 14.4%, followed by generating reports and insights from data (12.2%), summarizing lengthy documents or emails (9.9%), and idea generation (9.4%).
Generally, most employees see the potential in AI. When asked about their personal view of AI’s use in the workplace, 69.1% said it’s already providing benefits, and another 18.8% said while they haven’t yet realized benefits, they see the potential.
