New Study Shows U.S. Companies Slow to Implement AI in the Workplace, Despite Over Half of Employees Expressing Desire for an AI Policy

• Research commissioned by Advertising Week and conducted via Cint reveals 55% of workers think their organization should have an AI policy, while only 19% have one already in place, and only 21% of organizations are encouraging the use of AI
• Data shows that 75% are concerned about implementing AI at work, 64% are concerned about the use of AI in advertising, and 60% are concerned AI will damage their future job prospects

NEW YORK, NY – October 2023 – New research conducted by Cint, a global leader in research technology, and in collaboration with Advertising Week New York, reveals senior leaders in U.S. organizations are failing to implement artificial intelligence in the workplace, despite over half of employees believing their company should institute an AI policy. The data suggests that only 21% of respondents’ organizations have initiatives to encourage using AI, and only 19% of respondents’ organizations have an AI policy.

The findings suggest that there are several fears preventing U.S. organizations from embracing AI, with 75% of respondents concerned about implementing AI at work. The top three concerns respondents noted were: AI’s potential to reduce human creativity and workers becoming dependent on AI, losing the ability to apply human judgment to decision making, and surveillance of AI tools. In addition, 64% of respondents are concerned about the use of AI in advertising, primarily noting the loss of human creativity, loss of human judgment and decision making, and loss of social interaction.

The analysis also showed that, of the 29% of U.S. respondents that were implementing AI at work (primarily for creative generation, content creation, and brainstorming), over a quarter of them are using it frequently, with the majority using AI a few times a week (35%), or a few times a month (31%), or daily (13%). Sentiment toward AI use at work varies significantly across generations. Gen Z and Millennials are most likely to have used AI (39% and 36% have, respectively), vs. 12% of Boomers and 24% of Gen X.  Survey respondents who are using AI at work seem eager to get their entire organizations on board, with 77%  reporting they have told their manager they are using AI, and 74% thinking that more employees at their company should use it. Only about a quarter (26%) of respondents would be nervous to tell their manager that they were using AI.

The research also mapped managers vs. non-managers sentiment towards AI, finding that managers are nearly 4x as likely to have used AI (47%) vs. only 13 % of non-managers, as well as twice as likely to want to use AI to improve productivity (67% vs. 33%). This was supported by the finding that 65% of U.S. managers think that more people at their company should be using AI. On the other hand, despite managers’ desire to implement AI at their organization, the data suggests widespread concerns, with 59% of managers reporting concerns that their organization is implementing AI too soon (vs. 45% of non managers). 40% of managers who are concerned about AI have shared those concerns with their organizations (vs. 19% of concerned non-managers).

Other key findings from the research are sector-specific and revealed the following:

• Despite concerns, all industries show some desire to implement AI at work, with manufacturing (56%) and retail (51%) workers being the most interested to implement. By contrast, professionals working in education (37%) and hospitality (42%)  are the least interested in implementing AI.
• Healthcare orgs are most likely to have an AI initiative (25%) vs. hospitality orgs least likely (8%)
• Healthcare orgs are also most likely to have an AI policy 920%) vs. hospitality orgs least likely (9%)

The research — carried out by Cint in partnership with Advertising Week New York— surveyed 1000 respondents from across the U.S.