Is AI Adoption Heading for a Plateau?

The hype around generative AI may be starting to cool, according to a new Slack report.

The survey of more than 17,000 desk workers worldwide, published on Nov. 12, revealed a disconnect between AI aspirations and adoption rates. The report focused on barriers to AI adoption at work and how leaders can clarify questions about it. The slight dip in global interest is notable after nearly a year of increased excitement around AI.

“AI adoption isn’t just about enterprises, it’s also about employees,” said Christina Janzer, head of Slack’s Workforce Lab, in a press release. “With sentiment around AI dropping, businesses need to help employees accelerate their AI journey and address the cultural and organizational blockers standing in their way.”

AI may not be fulfilling the hype

Slack saw a steady rise in AI adoption from September 2023 to March 2024. At its peak in March 2024, about one-third (32%) of desk workers surveyed had used AI to do their jobs. This percentage began to show a decline or plateau in the last three months.

Specifically:

• The U.S. saw just a single percentage point of growth in AI usage, from 32% to 33% of desk workers.
• “Excitement” about AI helping with work tasks among global workers dropped by 6%.
• Excitement about AI fell 9% over the last three months in the U.S.
• Excitement about AI fell 12% over the last three months in France.

Nearly all (99%) of surveyed executives say they will make an investment into AI this year.

Nearly half of employees would be uncomfortable revealing AI use to managers

While some companies create top-down initiatives to encourage the use of AI, many employees are reluctant to share their AI use: 48% of survey participants said they would be uncomfortable telling their managers they use AI. They feared a perception of AI use as cheating, a resource of the less competent, or laziness.

Notably, Slack asked participants whether they would be uncomfortable sharing their AI use with their manager, not whether they are uncomfortable using AI at all. Survey-takers who are comfortable sharing that they use AI at work are likelier to use it. Still, the underlying fears reflect on both the technology and company culture.

SEE: AI can introduce security risks to organizations and security teams.

In general, the usage of much-hyped technologies tends to level out over time. Slack noted that the potential “lazy” and “cheating” accusations, the perception that AI is “not yet living up to the hype,” and a lack of training in using AI are the primary factors that affect employees’ viewpoints of the technology.

Employees are concerned AI will not reduce administrative tasks

AI advocates have long argued that the technology helps companies by automating rote tasks, thereby freeing up time for meaningful activities that support an organization’s bottom line. However, Slack’s report indicated that organizations haven’t seen reduced administrative tasks over the past few months. Instead, many employees suspect AI could lead to more drudge work and an increased workload.

“Employees are worried that the time they save with AI will actually increase their workload — with leaders expecting them to do more work, at a faster pace,” Janzer said. “This presents an opportunity for leaders to redefine what they mean by ‘productivity,’ inspiring employees to improve the quality of their work, not just the quantity.”

When asked what they would want to do with the time saved by AI, participants said they wanted time to engage in non-work activities and skill-building. But when asked what they would likely do with extra time, people listed administrative tasks and additional work on existing projects.

How team leaders who want to promote AI can change minds

Slack — which has its own AI assistant — recommends managers who want to promote AI:

• Run team-building exercises related to AI.
• Make AI use, and AI wins, visible to the entire organization through convenient communications channels.
• Model AI use in managers’ own work as appropriate.
• Focus on skill-building and training in how to use generative AI.
• Redefine what productivity means, tying goals to innovative or creative work projects to incentivize giving the drudge work to the AI.
• Remember that AI can’t replace real human connection. Approach your team’s connections and the ways people ask one another for assistance with “intentionality.”

Slack also recommended that organizations train their employees to use AI via short, impactful sessions — also known as “microlearning.”

“AI training programs don’t have to be a heavy lift,” said Chrissie Arnold, director of future of work programs at Workforce Lab. “At Slack, we’ve had pretty amazing results from just 10 minutes a day of AI microlearning.”