We’ve all seen the headlines. Dystopian predictions about the long-term economic impact of artificial intelligence (AI) continue to dominate the news. But what do people think who already work with AI on a daily basis? What kind of effect does it have on their job satisfaction and performance?
To answer questions like these, our team at Tech.co surveyed more than 1000 business leaders. Interestingly, 30% told us AI is already making a “significant” or “substantial” impact on their organization’s work processes. And among those who use AI in their role, nearly 60% say it has elevated their job satisfaction.
Digging deeper, we found a strong correlation between AI usage and willingness to adopt burnout-busting work models, such as a four-day workweek. This suggests that AI technology has the potential to affect job satisfaction in broader ways, going forward.
To better understand these findings and others from our 2024 Impact of Technology on the Workplace Report, read on.
AI Is Very Helpful, But Not Yet Widely Embraced
Although early adopters have highly positive opinions of AI in the workplace, organizations generally consider it less important than other innovative technologies. Specifically, respondents ranked AI only 6th in importance, behind cybersecurity, communication tools, 5G technology, internet of things, and collaboration solutions.
In fact, 34% of survey respondents told us AI isn’t yet being used in their organization at all. But here are several reasons why that may soon change…
Why Business Leaders Say AI Boosts Job Satisfaction
What exactly is it about AI that helps people feel more satisfied in their work role? Our analysis points to three factors:
1. AI Helps People Achieve More While Doing Less
Freely accessible Generative AI tools like ChatGPT have captured the imagination of employees across the globe. These tools assist professionals with all sorts of work tasks, helping them accomplish more in less time.
Interestingly, the 69% of leaders who told us their workforce uses AI “extensively” or “fully” also report high levels of productivity. In contrast, among organizations where AI isn’t implemented at all, only 51% say output is strong.
Happy employees are typically more productive. But looking at the impact of AI on both productivity and job satisfaction, it seems the reverse could also be true. For many people, these factors could be mutually supportive. In other words, ambitious, career-driven employees tend to embrace tools that save them time, fill-in skills gaps, and enrich their work. And this makes work more satisfying.
2. AI Reduces Repetitive and Mundane Tasks
AI is certainly helping business leaders achieve more — and one of the ways it does that is by automating repetitive or tedious tasks many workers don’t find interesting or fulfilling. In particular, our research found that leaders most often turn to AI to help with tasks like these:
- Data analysis — 32%
- Writing tasks such as composing emails — 28%
- Scheduling and calendar management — 21%
- Automated data entry — 20%
More broadly, AI is reducing the amount of time people spend on the “dark matter” of work. Essentially, this is unstructured time we spend on tasks like developing spreadsheets, sending messages, organizing meetings, creating images, building presentations, and managing various resources.
By drastically shortening the time required for mundane and administrative activities, AI tools are freeing up time for people to focus on work that demands authentic human involvement or creativity.
3. AI Can Improve Work-Life Balance
The newest generation of workers has grown up through several tumultuous economic crises. They’ve learned about burnout from the adults in their lives. And as they enter the workforce, many are determined to reject the idea of working nonstop just to maximize company profits.
This is why terms like lazygirl jobs, resenteeism, and quiet quitting have sprung up in the aftermath of the pandemic. Older generations may conclude that this behavior comes from a sense of entitlement. But many younger people simply see it as a refusal to go the extra mile without receiving proper compensation.
Regardless, AI can play a role in resolving these issues. Time-saving tools designed to chip away at the most mundane, repetitive tasks not only give employees a chance to be more creative. They also help people gain more control over work-life balance by making it possible to streamline each day.
Anyone struggling to squeeze everything into a packed schedule will welcome solutions that help them deliver high-quality output in much less time. This can dramatically reduce job-related stress, while also potentially redeeming time for personal priorities.
Generative AI Is the Gateway Tool of Choice
Which AI applications are fueling this improved level of job satisfaction among so many employers? Because generative AI tools like ChatGPT are highly accessible, they’re gaining momentum at an astounding pace.
Soon after OpenAI introduced ChatGPT to the public in November 2022, multiple competitors emerged — most notably Google Bard (now Gemini) and Anthropic Claude.
But despite this flourishing Gen AI ecosystem, a majority of survey respondents (65%) told us they prefer ChatGPT. Meanwhile, 48% say they use Google Bard/Gemini and 21% use Bing Chat. But only 10% use Claude AI.
Clearly, OpenAI has benefited heavily from its first-mover advantage.
Still, The Jury is Out on AI’s Benefits
Despite the positive correlation between job satisfaction and employee use of AI tools like ChatGPT, many organizations are still on the fence about whether AI tools are a good thing.
Although 41% of leaders told us they “approve” or “strongly approve” of reliance on AI at work, 17% of said they “disapprove” or “strongly disapprove” of its use. Meanwhile, the largest proportion of respondents (42%) have a neutral opinion.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that adoption isn’t yet 100%. In fact, 2 out of 3 respondents work in organizations where AI tools aren’t yet used at all (34%), or only in limited ways (33%).
So, even though many business leaders and employees are already reaping the benefits of AI, garnering widespread adoption and advocacy will take more than a few success stories. Some people will need to be convinced. And influencing them will require a more gradual process.
How Else Could AI Affect Job Satisfaction?
Although many leaders we surveyed already see a direct link between AI use and job satisfaction, there are other ways AI could boost job satisfaction in the future.
For instance, AI may hold the keys to the 4-day workweek. Among companies that are fully utilizing AI tools, nearly all leaders (93%) are thinking about offering employees a four-day workweek. In fact, no leader in this category said they are against this idea.
In contrast, among businesses that don’t use AI at all, 38% of leaders reject the idea of implementing a four-day workweek.
It’s not surprising to find that when organizations readily embrace new technologies such as AI, they’re also open to more progressive work policies. However, in industries where AI is more difficult to implement or its impact is less significant may also struggle logistically to reduce standard work hours.
Regardless, AI tools are clearly making work life easier for those who are able to use them. Also, we don’t yet see it putting people out of jobs. In fact, despite the rapid uptake of AI technology over the past two years, only a tiny fraction of leaders (4%) say it has had an extensive impact on job roles. Actually, more than half of them said they haven’t seen any impact.
However, AI tools are still in their infancy and they are evolving at warp speed. So it’s hard to say with confidence how capable or applicable they’ll be in a few months, let alone a year from now. Even so, if AI keeps saving valuable time and effort without eliminating jobs altogether, we should expect to see a continued beneficial impact on employee satisfaction.
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