More than one in five adults work for companies that are deploying artificial intelligence (AI) and while these employees generally view AI positively, they also have concerns about its potential effects on their privacy, job security, and economic equality. In fact, AI users are both more optimistic about AI’s benefits and more wary of its risks than non-users. Those are the central findings of a survey of more than 7,000 people conducted in Canada, China, France, Germany, Spain, the UK, and the US by BCG GAMMA and Ipsos, a market research firm.
AI is not coming—it’s already here
AI adoption varies widely among countries. In China, 31 per cent of survey respondents say they work in organisations that already use AI, followed by North America (26 per cent in Canada, 24 per cent in the US) and then Europe (20 per cent in the UK; 18 per cent in Spain, 16 per cent in France, and 15 per cent in Germany).
Adoption also varies by sector, but to a lesser extent. A quarter of the workers in manufacturing say that AI is deployed at their companies, compared with 20 per cent in construction, 19 per cent in retail, and 18 per cent in services. The average rate across private sector organisations stands at 20 per cent, whereas 25 per cent of public sector respondents say that AI-enabled tools and applications are already in their workplace.
People have a positive view of increasing use of AI-enabled tools
The vast majority of employees—especially those who already have access to AI—expect it to have positive implications for their organisation and for themselves.
In workplaces that use AI-powered tools, more than two-thirds of the employees surveyed say the tools have already had a positive impact on their efficiency (75 per cent cite improvements in their effectiveness, 75 per cent in their results, and 74 per cent in how their work is structured). They also note that AI has had a positive impact on the appeal of their work (70 per cent), on their level of well-being at work (69 per cent), and on the training courses made available to them (67 per cent). A large majority of respondents, regardless of gender, age, or occupation, mention these positive effects.
Workers who have already experienced the benefits of AI tools are even more enthusiastic than others with regard to the likely the impact of AI over the next five years. More than eight in ten think that it will positively affect their organisation (84 per cent say it will have a positive impact on their organisation’s business growth, and 81 per cent say it will improve the structure of work). More than three in four also expect positive benefits for themselves (77 per cent with regard to their level of well-being at work, and 76 per cent with regard to their professional development).
Although people who don’t already have access to tools enabled by AI are less enthusiastic, they remain largely positive about the idea. The same applies to countries, depending on where they stand on the path to AI revolution.
The most advanced countries, such as China, Canada, and the US—but also Spain—view the probable impact of AI most positively. Other European countries are more cautious, but still see it positively for the most part.
Big efforts needed to get everybody on board
Despite their generally positive opinions about AI’s impact and outlook, people do have serious concerns that companies must address. Fears and concerns don’t simply disappear when people become familiar with AI-enabled tools; indeed, more than three in four people are worried that using AI at work may result in more supervisory control and surveillance in their workplace (82 per cent of people in organisations already using AI think so). This concern is especially high in China (84 per cent).
More than two-thirds of surveyed workers fear that AI will eventually lead to job losses due to a reduced workload (the percentage among employees who already use AI is 76 per cent). Many (65 per cent overall, and 71 per cent in places already using AI) are also afraid that AI will dehumanise work, resulting in reduced social cohesion, and foresee AI-related ethical problems with regard to the protection of personal data (64 per cent overall, and 71 per cent where AI is already in place).
To this point, organisations implementing AI tools have not discussed these concerns in depth—which is all the more reason that they should do so now. Only 40 per cent of the employees interviewed says that their managers have discussed the organisation’s development of AI and its digital transformation with them (only 32 per cent where no applications of AI are available yet).
A substantial majority (79 per cent) of employees in workplaces where AI is already familiar expect their managers to make statements and decisions about it. Others have lower expectations, largely because they are unaware of how important AI has become a strategic issue in most organizations.
This explains why less than one person in three believes that the development of AI will revolutionise their workplace, and why 42 per cent think that it will impact only certain companies and certain business sectors, rather than the entire economy.
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