Introduction
AI is more than a hot topic; It's the primary conversation being had across teams and industries today.
And in many ways, we’re all asking the same question: how will AI change my life at work?
But, like with all buzzwords, it’s easy to be skeptical. Is generative AI really the game-changer that we think it is? How are people using AI today, and what might that mean for the future?
We surveyed our user base to identify:
- Which teams are using AI.
- How AI is being used in the workplace.
- The frequency of AI usage across our user base.
Like with all surveys, this was just one sample size within a much larger conversation. To add further context to our own results, we've also reviewed insights from leading researchers currently painting the picture of the state of AI in today’s working world.
AI in action: Common use cases
We surveyed our users from across industries and departments (the majority respondents being in IT & Operations and Marketing), and found that 78% of all respondents across functions use AI in some capacity.
More granularly, some notable results showed usage ranges above 50%, as shown in the chart below.
Of this sample size, AI supports them in:
- Writing.
- Research.
- Content creation.
- Documentation of some kind.
This is all indicative of what Forbes calls “The New Wave of AI," a more robust, dynamic generative AI that can create content — whether that’s an online course, a training manual or new line of code — for you.
Plus, with Google making big strides in generative AI, incorporating AI SEO into your work is quickly becoming a necessity if you want to remain visible and competitive in your industry.
At the heels of Open AI’s massively successful launch of ChatGPT, it’s no surprise that creative and operational teams are using it to their advantage.
Daily AI use: How common is it really?
AI adoption ranges high. About a third of our respondents reported daily usage, and more than 41% use it each week.
Of the respondents who aren’t using AI, 58% said they “want to use it but don’t know how.”
As we foray into the future, businesses have an opportunity and responsibility to engage their users with AI’s potential. Every day, AI looks less like a wave and more like a shift in collective behavior that will only grow.
And now is the best time to familiarize ourselves with the possibilities of generative AI. In a Stanford and MIT study considered the “first major real-world application” of AI, Lindsey Raymond, an MIT Ph.D. candidate and co-author of the paper, concluded that AI itself won’t replace employees, but employees that use generative AI will likely replace those that don’t.
According to Erik Brynjolfsson, a director of the Digital Economy Lab at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI, says the best way to stay ahead of the curve is to embrace where tech is heading.
“Workers who embrace the technology, play around with it and learn how to use it are the ones that are going to succeed and benefit the most.”
A workforce evolution: The positive impact of AI
One primary way that we can leverage AI is to replace redundant and simple manual tasks.
We asked respondents how much time they spend on communication tasks such as answering questions or creating formal documentation.
Seventy percent stated that they spend “a lot” of time writing messages to colleagues, and 52% spent as much time corresponding with clients. Forty-eight percent lost the same amount of time researching work-related materials, while 48% spent “some” time writing SOPs, wikis and other training materials.
This is where AI comes in.
Raymond of the Stanford and MIT study remarks that research concludes that technology will “help workers more effectively multitask and handle more complicated questions faster.”
This especially helps strengthen the skillset of newer employees. Stanford and MIT claim that AI tools boosted productivity by 14% on average, but “novice” employees saw even more substantial improvement.
This suggests that employees with less experience can use AI to learn what once only came with years of experience.
This doesn’t just help new employees. It’s also a massive asset for experienced workers, who we’ll call “go-to people.”
A go-to person is whoever you’re most likely to ask about any process, tool, or project. The caveat is that these hardworking and helpful knowledge workers spend most of their time answering questions, building training materials and trying to get what they know out of their heads.
By helping new employees learn and making it easier for your go-to people to share their knowledge, AI gives entire teams more time to do their jobs well.
ChatGPT's popularity: A reflection of AI's potential
This revitalized AI boom is anything but a surprise.
According to Pitchbook Data, investors put almost as much funding into AI companies in 2022 as they did combined in the previous five years. And if 2023 so far is any indication, it’s clear that AI is here to stay.
ChatGPT usage is an excellent first step in getting familiar with AI. Seventy three percent of our respondents have tried the tool in some capacity, and our team at Scribe is digging into how we can use this knowledge to make Scribe even more powerful than ever before.
One thing tools like ChatGPT can be used for is developing new business platforms. For instance, by combining the power of scraping tools to extract website data (such as job listings) with the generative capabilities of ChatGPT, it’s possible to efficiently build job boards and other platforms, opening up new avenues for entrepreneurial endeavors.
AI is here to stay: What you need to know
Our survey may have been just a flash in the pan, but it aligns with what other studies show: AI is already used in the workplace to create content, save time and boost productivity. And that adoption is only going to increase.
Now is the time for businesses and employees alike to lean into the latest developments in AI and its applications. If you’re not already using AI in your work, now is the perfect time to start exploring its potential.
Introducing Scribe AI ✨
All in all, our biggest takeaway from this survey is that our users are both open to AI and spend much of their time building process documentation and communicating what they know. It's a natural part of our evolution that AI should enter the conversation. We've always focused on making knowledge-share easier than ever — and now we're picking up the momentum.
We're more than thrilled to introduce Scribe AI, the next phase in our journey. By leveraging generative AI, our users will never again need to manually document another process.
Sign up for the waitlist here!
