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With the rapid advancements in generative AI over the past few years, AI has become an increasingly valuable and widely adopted tool in aiding business processes. Not only does it offer the opportunity for organizations to improve productivity and reduce costs but it’s also boosting innovation, with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) reporting a surge in AI-related patent applications, indicating increased innovation in the field.
Despite significant investment in AI technology, many businesses are not fully capitalizing on its potential. Our recent study reveals a notable disparity: while 80% of businesses are increasing their AI investments, only 47% of UK workers are actively using AI in their roles. Moreover, concerns about AI accuracy persist, with 30% of respondents expressing worries about the reliability of generative AI outputs. Although the high level of business investment is encouraging, there's a clear need to broaden AI adoption among employees. To maximize the return on both Enterprise and generative AI investments, organizations must focus on empowering their workforce to effectively utilize these technologies.
Bridging the AI knowledge gap
Effective AI integration in the workplace must begin with comprehensive AI training, where there is already a significant gap in this area: nearly half of UK employees report not being offered any AI training. This lack of proper guidance on AI usage has led to widespread mistrust among the workforce. The survey found that 45% of UK workers express a lack of trust in AI technologies. Organizations are potentially leaving themselves open to instances of unethical AI use, and/or security risks.
Cultivating an AI-enabled workforce
Despite the potential of AI to address workplace challenges, many employees still struggle with issues it could resolve. Our research shows that 62% of workers believe they would benefit from a reduced workload, while 35% express a need for more time to complete their tasks. To harness AI's potential in addressing these concerns, organizations must create an environment where staff feel confident to safely explore and experiment with AI integrations. It's crucial to recognize that while business leaders grasp the overarching corporate strategy, employees possess invaluable insights into their specific roles and workflows. Therefore, successful Enterprise AI integration requires a balanced approach that aligns with both the strategic vision of leadership and the practical needs of the workforce.
Responsible AI use
The responsible use of AI isn’t as simple as prescriptively banning specific prompts or the use of certain company confidential data. Instead, it involves setting a comprehensive direction for the entire business on AI use.
As the performance of Enterprise AI integrations improve with access to better quality data, ensuring security and governance processes are in place has the complementary effect of improving accuracy while insulating businesses from security risks. This way, employees work with the knowledge they’re using AI securely, giving them the freedom to experiment with how the technology could benefit them.
Businesses should assess and prepare their existing technology stack for AI integration. This preparation is crucial, as only 44% of UK workers believe Enterprise AI currently has the necessary context to be valuable. By providing AI models with access to contextual company data, businesses can significantly enhance AI's effectiveness and open up a range of new opportunities.
Automation extending AI value
The capabilities of Enterprise AI are already extensive, encompassing a wide array of tasks. When integrated with automation technologies, its potential expands significantly, dramatically enhancing both its scope and efficiency. Automation can give employees the ability to complete repetitive tasks, supplemented with the capabilities of AI they can even analyze text, images, and video. This offers them flexibility over how they complete their own work and encourages them to find new, more productive methods of completing tasks.
Furthermore, offering employees software automation and Enterprise AI together provides opportunities to build efficiencies across a business. Individual employees automating tasks can compound into entire divisions of large organisations automating workflows end-to-end. The combined impact of giving all employees control over their workflows and the skills to automate can transform both their productivity and the way businesses operate as more efficient ways to work are found over time.
Effective AI implementation requires a collaborative approach
Investing in AI technology alone is not sufficient to guarantee success. The value derived from Enterprise AI deployments stems from a combination of factors: employees developing skills to effectively utilize AI, companies implementing models securely and ethically, and the ability to integrate company-specific contextual data to enhance AI outputs.
UK businesses aiming to leverage AI must focus on these areas to avoid inefficiencies. Given the significant opportunities presented by Enterprise AI and automation, it's crucial for organisations to carefully consider how these technologies can be best integrated within their specific operational contexts.
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