A surprising number of employees wouldn’t mind having an AI as their ‘boss’

According to a new poll from the Asana Work Innovation Lab, nearly two-thirds of executives of executives think that artificial intelligence will help their companies reach their objectives. The report also suggests that 36 percent of employees in the United States and United Kingdom already use AI at work at least weekly. And a perhaps surprising number of people wouldn’t mind having their work graded by artificial intelligence or even having a robot as their ‘boss’.

The report also claims that more than half (55 percent) of executives expect their companies to use AI for goal-setting, and 61 percent are confident that artificial intelligence will help their companies reach their objectives more effectively than traditional methods. In addition the report from the workplace tech provider also argues that firms are willing to pay a premium for workplace tools if they are powered by AI.

The report claims that 30 percent of employees currently use AI for data analysis, and 25 percent for administrative functions, but more than half of all employees in both countries think artificial intelligence has a role to play in creative tasks. In addition, 45 percent of employees in the US say they are keen to use AI for brainstorming, compared to 32 percent in the UK.

It also suggest that employees are even open to artificial intelligence assessing their performance at work, especially in the US, where 38 percent of employees are receptive to the idea, compared to 28 percent in the UK. Around 15 percent of US workers would entertain the idea of AI being their boss—nearly double the percentage in the UK.

However, the poll found that 26 percent of workers are worried they will be viewed as lazy for using artificial intelligence, and 1 in 5 workers share that they feel like a fraud for using AI—with a higher percentage of workers in the UK. expressing such concerns.

The report argues that workers need clearer guidelines, more training, and accessible AI tools that enhance the work of humans. Yet, only 24 percent of companies provide policies or guidance on AI usage at work, and just 17 percent of employees say they’ve received training on how to use AI in their day-to-day work, the poll claims.

Almost half (48 percent) of employees want more guidance from their employers on how to use AI, and 39 percent say that the lack of training impacts their decisions to join a company. 59 percent of employees consider a company’s transparency about its use of artificial intelligence as a key factor when joining a new organisation.