Half (50%) of workers now use some form of artificial intelligence (AI) at work, up from one-third (32%) last year, according to the second annual AI at Work study from Oracle and research firm Future Workplace.
In a sign of how AI is changing the relationship between people and technology at work, almost two-thirds (64%) of those surveyed said they would trust a robot more than their manager and half have turned to a robot instead of their manager for advice.
What’s more, 82% of employees think robots can do things better than their managers.
When asked what robots can do better than their managers, respondents said they are better at providing unbiased information (26%), maintaining work schedules (34%), problem solving (29%) and managing a budget (26%).
Thinking about what managers can do better than robots, workers said the top three tasks were understanding their feelings (45%), coaching them (33%) and creating a work culture (29%).
According to Oracle, the impact of AI at work is only just beginning and organisations need to focus on simplifying and securing the technology or risk being left behind.
In the global survey, three-quarters (76%) of workers and 81% of HR leaders said they find it challenging to keep up with the pace of technological changes in the workplace. Workers want a simplified experience with AI at work, with a better user interface (34%), best practice training (30%) and an experience that is personalised to their behaviour (30%).
Security (31%) and privacy (30%) are the main concerns preventing workers from using AI at work and the survey found that digital natives Gen Z (43%) and Millennials (45%) are more concerned about privacy and security at work than Gen X (29%) and Baby Boomers (23%).
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Tags: AI, Artificial Intelligence
