The recent rise of artificial intelligence in business has left most office workers wondering how often they should use the technology and whether a computer will eventually replace it.
These were among the highlights of a recent survey conducted by workplace communications platform Slack. After conducting in-depth interviews with 5,000 desktop workers, Slack found that there are five types of AI personalities in the workplace: “The Maximalist” who regularly uses AI at work; “The Underground” covertly using AI; ‘The Rebel’, who despises AI; “The Superfan” who is excited about AI, but still hasn’t used it; and “The Observer” taking a wait-and-see attitude.
Only 50% of respondents fell into the Maximalist or Underground categories, posing a challenge for companies that want their employees to embrace AI technology. The Associated Press recently discussed the excitement and tension around AI at work with Christina Janzer, Slack’s senior vice president of research and analytics.
Q: What do you think about the wide range of perceptions about AI at work?
A: It shows that people experience AI in very different ways, so they have very different emotions about it. Understanding these emotions will help understand what will drive the use of AI. If people feel guilty or nervous about it, they won’t use it. So we need to understand where people are and then point them toward learning to appreciate this new technology.
Q: The Maximalist and The Underground both seem to be early adopters of AI at work, but what’s different about their attitudes?
A: Maximalists are all about AI. They get value from it, they are enthusiastic about it and they actively share that they use it, which is a big driver for use, among other things.
The Underground is really interesting to me because they use it, but they hide it. There are several reasons for this. They fear they will be seen as incompetent. They fear that AI will be seen as a fraud. And so we have the opportunity for them to provide clear guidance to let them know that the use of AI is celebrated and encouraged. But right now they don’t have guidelines from their companies and don’t feel particularly encouraged to use them.
Overall, there’s more excitement about AI than not, so I think that’s great. We just have to figure out how to leverage that.
Q: What about the 19% of employees who fell under the rebel description in Slack’s survey?
A: Rebels are mostly women, which is very interesting. Three out of five rebels are women, which I obviously don’t like to see. Moreover, rebels tend to be older. At a high level, men are adopting technology faster than women.
Q: Why do you think more women than men oppose AI?
A: Women are more likely to see AI as a threat and fear that AI will take over their jobs. To me, this indicates that women do not feel as trusted as men in the workplace. If you feel trusted by your manager, you are more likely to experiment with AI. Women are reluctant to adopt a technology that could be seen as a replacement for them, while men may be more confident that this will not happen because they feel more trusted.
Q: What are some things employers should do if they want their employees to embrace AI in their workplace?
A: We see that three in five agency workers don’t even have clear guidelines with AI because their companies just don’t tell them, so that’s a huge opportunity.
Another opportunity to encourage outdoor AI use. If we can create a culture where it’s celebrated, where people can see how people use it, then they can know that it’s accepted and celebrated. Then they can be inspired.
The third thing is that we need to create a culture of experimentation where people feel comfortable trying it out, testing it out and being comfortable with it, because a lot of people just don’t know where to start. The reality is that you can start small, you don’t have to completely change your job. Letting AI write an email or summarize the content is a good start so you can start to understand what this technology can do.
Q: Do you think the fear of people losing their jobs due to AI is justified?
A: People with AI will replace people without AI.
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