AI

UK workers are increasingly using generative AI, despite lack of training

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Around 18 million people aged between 16 and 75 have used generative AI in the UK, according to research from Deloitte.

That’s more than a third of the population, and is a huge increase on last year – when, for example, only four million Britons used it for work purposes. This year, that figure has risen to 66 per cent.

Of those already using generative AI tools, 10 per cent are doing so daily, 26 per cent weekly, with 41 per cent saying they use AI tools on a less than monthly basis.

However, there is a significant disconnect between workplace attitudes to generative AI usage, and the tack workers are taking, which in many cases has become a “bring your own AI” to work (BYOAI) approach.

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BYOAI manifests itself in employees’ use of assistive tools like Gemini, Claude or ChatGPT. They’re really handy for research, dashing out a document outline, summarising a meeting report, or even composing emails.

In fact, generative AI has a huge number of potential use-cases across the financial services, banking and fintech industries. These include risk management and fraud detection; credit scoring; scenario modelling; algorithmic trading; portfolio optimisation; financial statement analysis; data visualisation; regulatory compliance – and more.

But Paul Lee, the partner and head of technology, media and telecommunications research at Deloitte, has a warning.

“Employees are moving faster than their employers when it comes to adopting GenAI to transform how they work. While workers are signalling that GenAI can boost their output and save them time, many employees may not be supported, encouraged, or explicitly endorsed to use the technology by their organisation.”

A new The State of AI at Work report from Asana agrees, saying that “as AI permeates organisations, a troubling reality emerges: most are dangerously underprepared”.

Asana’s research has found that only 31 per cent of companies have a formal AI strategy in place, and that “dangerous divides exist between executives and individual contributors in terms of AI enthusiasm, adoption, and perceived benefits”.

Despite 78 per cent of executives believing that combining AI with human expertise can result in better outcomes, only 13 per cent of organisations have developed shared AI guidelines.

AI training matters

This matters because improper use of generative AI tools can have significant business impacts. Consider the 2023 case of the Samsung employees at the company’s semiconductor division who unwittingly used ChatGPT to check confidential source code.

Generative AI tools use inputs as training data unless you specifically tell them not to, so it is easy to see how sensitive information may become publicly available. This is precisely the sort of issue that strikes fear into the hearts of C-suite executives, and that fear can stymie policies around acceptable use.

Verizon, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank have all banned usage of ChatGPT over concerns about private data being shared. More recently, Elon Musk said he was ready to ban Apple devices at his companies if the company goes ahead with an install of ChatGPT onto iPhones. He says this would be an “unacceptable security violation”.

Institutions and companies can’t sleep on this. Deloitte’s research has found that users aren’t comprehensively aware of the risks of generative AI, including inaccuracies and biases. It found that 25 per cent believe it is always factually accurate, and 26 per cent think it is unbiased.

Asana’s report points out that 56 per cent of workers are taking control of their generative AI learning journey through their own personal experimentation.

But this isn’t solely an individual issue. The report advises that “organisations must also facilitate learning by providing resources, training programs, and support structures. […] Prioritising AI literacy, training, and development is essential and requires a collaborative effort between employees and companies to ensure teams are equipped with both tools and knowledge to use AI effectively”.

Costi Perricos, partner and global generative AI lead at Deloitte, agrees. “Whether organisations have supportive or strict policies on the use of Generative AI, it is clear that improving business AI fluency is vital.

“GenAI deployment should be accompanied by a thorough learning and development programme, including training on ethics and responsible use, and guidance on how to get the most value from GenAI tools. HR leaders have a key role to play, creating a clear framework in which their workforce can operate.”

Asana’s report highlights the fact that employees using AI daily are the ones seeing the biggest gains, with 89 per cent reporting a productivity boost. So working in an organisation that is slow to act or which has unclear guidelines can be frustrating.

If you’re finding that your own organisation has an unclear approach to the use of generative AI tools, it could be time to look for a role at a company which has a clear policy, guidelines and budget for the right generative AI tools for the job.

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Article written by Kirstie McDermott at Amply.

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