As many organizations are still trying to figure out the strategy and rules of the road to introduce generative AI into their processes and workflows, the AI adoption ship has already sailed.
According to the Pew Research Center’s recent study on the adoption of ChatGPT, the adoption of Gen AI at work is rising very quickly, especially among younger workers. Overall, about 20% of workers report using ChatGPT at work, with 31% of younger workers reporting using it.
While estimates of the share of workers who could use Gen AI in their work, i.e., workers who use a computer at work, have Internet access, have a work reason to use it, etc. are still being debated, current estimates range from 60% to 80%.
That means that already between 25% to 33% of workers who could use Gen AI at work say they’re already using it—and the share of users is rapidly increasing. Yes, these numbers probably overstate actual usage due to the false positive effect caused by asking people in surveys about trendy technology. But even if you reduce the usage by 25%, Gen AI is gaining use by workers at a pace dramatically faster than any technology we’ve ever studied — and we’ve looked at technology diffusion for decades.
So, now those executives overseeing corporate AI adoption strategies and policies need to try to catch up with the actual adoption and usage of Gen AI by workers.
