While more and more professionals are engaging with organisational AI, challenges such as insufficient training and a lack of trust remain.
When it first emerged as a tool for productivity, creative brainstorming and the manipulation of large-scale data, generative AI (GenAI) was approached with a degree of cautious optimism. Much was unknown about the technology’s true potential and there were significant fears around how advanced innovations might impact working life.
While those fears remain, according to LexisNexis’ second annual Future of Work Report, we are entering into an era where professionals and organisations are no longer just experimenting with GenAI. The maturity of the technology is reshaping how industries and entrepreneurs prioritise integration and C-suite leaders are among the users implementing AI as a strategic necessity.
Data and technology company LexisNexis surveyed more than 1,800 globally dispersed professionals between September and October of 2024, to determine ongoing trends and how employees and their organisations are adapting to workplace AI integration. What became clear from the results is that when it comes to GenAI there has been a shift from the novel to the necessary.
Can GenAI foster creativity?
Unsurprisingly LexisNexis’ report shows that GenAI is most commonly used in technology-based industries, however, other sectors, for example finance, professional services, education and healthcare are all showing signs of growth.
While the latter two appear to be growing at a more measured pace, likely in response to ethical, regulatory and resource constraints, the former are growing rapidly, showing the positive yet differing levels of GenAI readiness among organisations.
According to the report, the industries that depend on innovation and out-of-the-box thinking are quickly realising how crucial transformative GenAI could be.
In fact, while the figures are still relatively low, there has been an increase in the willingness of respondents to allow AI to be used in creative tasks. Having risen from just 5pc to 9pc in the last year, it is indicative of a slow but steady rise in trust among those using GenAI for innovative projects. 85pc of participants said they were familiar with the use of GenAI tools such as ChatGPT to aid writing, while almost 80pc reported using GenAI tools in recent months.
“This aligns with the growing integration of GenAI in creative industries, where these tools are enhancing creative processes and being used within imaginative tasks that were once considered exclusively human.
“While GenAI is clearly becoming a strategic asset for aiding creativity and innovation, as evident in adoption rates, professionals still do not have high levels of trust in fully delegating creative tasks to such tools. This signals that while GenAI is not yet trusted to execute creative tasks end-to-end, it does still play a helpful role in the creative process.”
Is there room to grow?
When compared to previous figures, the report shows that GenAI has evolved beyond initial preconceptions to become a more widely used and appreciated tool among professionals. However, that is not to say it has even come close to realising its full potential, as problems and concerns persist.
Notably, 10pc of surveyed organisations have yet to adopt any form of GenAI, while others have reported very minimal integration. Participant feedback points to a lack of trust in the technology (44pc), as well as insufficient training (27) and concerns about data privacy and security (47pc).
“These barriers create an interesting paradox, while technology-friendly individuals see the potential of AI tools, they often find themselves constrained by practical limitations. This leads to a pattern where even enthusiastic adopters might use AI less than they’d like to.”
The report’s authors suggest that there are a number of ways organisations could reduce or even eliminate the barriers to wider GenAI adoption. For example, by crafting clear organisational policies that balance security with innovation, offering comprehensive training programmes and delivering structured approaches to evaluating and implementing AI tools.
By being clear about AI, how it is sourced and how it stores and shares information, organisations can prove to their employees that they intend to treat the technology as a valuable and trusted asset, to be incorporated into wider company policy as a universal resource, not a handy gimmick.
When it comes down to it, employees, leaders and organisations as a whole are showing that they want to reap the benefits of GenAI and that moving beyond the experimental, novel phase is going to be key to the successful adoption of new technologies.
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