GenAI can save employees 7.5 hours a week — survey

Questions may linger about whether generative AI (genAI) is taking away jobs, but tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot are apparently making employees more productive.

That was the conclusion of a recent study by the London School of Economics and consulting firm Protiviti; The researchers concluded that genAI tools save workers close to 7.5 hours every week.

That amounts to savings of $18,000 per employee per year, the study said.

Of about 3,000 employees and executives surveyed, 70% were using AI — with younger workers quick to turn to the technology for work.

About 71% of Gen Z users (those born between 1997-2012) had the largest ratio of AI users, followed by 73% for millennials (born between 1981 and 1996), 60% for Gen X workers (1965-1980) and 52% for Baby Boomers (1946-1964).

“The top use, (43% of employees) is writing and content creation tasks, 34% [for] communication and collaboration, 27% [for] data analysis and visualization,” Daniel Jolles, research officer at LSE’s The Inclusion Initiative, said via email.

The report doesn’t distinguish between ChatGPT, Copilot or external or internal AI tools and systems. But for people not using AI, productivity improvements or cost savings could be as simple as firing up ChatGPT or other genAI tools.

“This will vary from role to role, but yes…, this report shows that using training and guardrails can give employees the autonomy and confidence to use freely available tools to significantly increase their productivity,” Jolles said.

About 60% of those surveyed did not receive any AI-specific training. But employees will be more productive with the technology if given the right boost in skills.

“Interactive hands-on workshops tailored to their roles are the most effective for AI adoption,” Jolles said.

GenAI is a priority in enterprises to help employees be more productive, said Melanie Freeze, research director at Gartner. “I believe that’s…time savings, and to some degree being able to focus on those higher value tasks,” Freeze said.

GenAI also helps fill labor gaps and take over jobs so employees can focus on more productive tasks, Kari Briski, vice president for generative AI software for enterprise at Nvidia, said earlier this week.

For example, robots with AI will take on mundane office-work and dangerous work in factories, which helps employees focus on other tasks, Briski said.