October 21, 2026
UK business leaders embrace AI but workers remain sceptical about its future, Microsoft survey claims
British business leaders are increasingly confident about the potential of artificial intelligence to transform the economy, but employees remain far more cautious about its impact on jobs and future career opportunities, according to new polling from Microsoft. A survey of 5,000 UK employees and 1,000 senior business decision-makers found that 84 percent of business leaders believe Britain can become a world-leading AI economy within the next five years, compared with just 41 percent of employees.October 12, 2026
AI isn’t replacing meetings, it’s changing their purpose
Throughout the years in the workplace technology industry, I’ve heard one common question among organization leaders: How can we have fewer meetings and how can we make the ones we do have more effective? When AI came along, many thought that it would be the solvent to this long-standing challenge. But it turns out, as individuals utilize AI to help them automate routine work, the need to collaborate with team members on the outputs has become more prominent. Rather than focusing on reducing the number of meetings, organizations should ask themselves: Are we designing the workplace with intentionality for meetings that are actually worth having? (more…)
October 7, 2026
Employees aren’t hiding their AI use to cut corners. They’re hiding it because they’re afraid
There’s a double bind facing employees when it comes to artificial intelligence. They’re expected to use it to be more productive, yet judged on how they do so. Recent Deloitte research found that nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of the UK workforce has now used generative AI, a third of those users do so without their employer’s knowledge, and one in ten have used an AI tool that their employer has banned or would disapprove of. Separate Deloitte figures found show that one in six are even paying for AI tools they use at work out of their own pocket. (more…)
September 29, 2026
AI skills divide risks leaving majority of workers behind, PwC finds
A widening divide between workers who are benefiting from artificial intelligence and those being left behind is emerging as AI use accelerates, according to a global study by PwC. The consultancy’s 2026 Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey found that 64 percent of workers had used AI at work during the previous 12 months, up 10 percentage points from last year. Daily use of generative AI increased from 14 percent to 22 percent, while 59 percent expect their use of AI tools to increase over the coming year. (more…)
September 29, 2026
Children are much more comfortable about the idea of working with robots
A new poll from measurement tech firm Hexagon suggests that younger people have very different ideas to older generations about the idea of working with robots. According to the report, across nine countries, children are growing up with fundamentally different expectations of robotics than today’s adults, shaped by growing up with AI and new experiences of intelligent technology. Four in five children (80 percent) say they are excited about robots, compared with 59 percent of adults. However, that generation gap varies dramatically around the world. (more…)
September 24, 2026
The AI utilisation gap: why employees use AI more deeply at home than at work
Artificial intelligence has crossed an important threshold. For most people, it is no longer a technology they are experimenting with occasionally; it is increasingly becoming part of everyday life. According to the 2026 annual WIN World AI Index, based on approximately 40,000 respondents across 44 countries, global AI adoption has risen to 74 percent up from 62 percent a year earlier. More significantly, 39 percent of people now intentionally use AI ‘often’ or ‘every day,’ representing a substantial shift from experimentation to actual habit. (more…)
September 18, 2026
Before trying to work out whether AI can be conscious, we need to work out what consciousness is
For those keeping up with the conversations about AI, beyond the hour-by-hour flip flopping about whether it will create hell or heaven on Earth, all driven by the hype merchants behind it and their critics, the most vigorous seems to be about whether AI is conscious or not. Now this is worth addressing, of course, but the entire conversation has a problem it usually fails to acknowledge. And it’s this. We don’t know what consciousness is. (more…)
September 18, 2026
Over-reliance on Gen-AI may weaken moral insights, understanding, and know-how
Generative artificial intelligence (Gen-AI) has become a routine part of working life but over-reliance on the technology may erode managers’ ability to build moral insights, contextual understanding and know-how to do get a job done, according to a new study from the University of Bath. The research, published in the Academy of Management Review, explores how tools such as ChatGPT may affect what academics call “managerial phronesis” – the practical wisdom managers develop through real-world experience, reflection and human interaction. (more…)
August 19, 2026
AI use surges across property and construction but firms struggle beyond pilot studies
AI adoption across construction and commercial property has accelerated significantly over the past year, but firms are struggling to turn pilot studies into routine practice, according to new research from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The RICS AI in Commercial Property and Construction Report 2026, based on more than 3,100 responses from industry professionals worldwide, found that about two-thirds of construction professionals are using AI in some form, up from just over half in 2025. In commercial property, more than three-quarters report some level of AI use. (more…)
August 19, 2026
Third of people think AI would do a better job than their human manager
More than a third of UK employees believe replacing their line manager with an artificial intelligence (AI) system would improve their productivity, although a large majority still want performance feedback delivered by a human manager. Polling commissioned by Careerminds UK found that 36.7 percent of employees thought an AI manager would make them more productive, compared with 25.5 percent who expected their productivity to decline. A further 37.8 percent said it would make no difference. (more…)
August 18, 2026
Why the organisations seeing real returns from agentic AI are empowering employees, not cutting jobs
The launch of the UK Government’s AI Skills Compact reflects an important shift in how policymakers and businesses are thinking about artificial intelligence. Rather than viewing AI simply as a route to greater efficiency or reduced headcount, leaders are starting to recognise that long-term competitiveness will depend just as much on equipping people with the skills to work alongside AI as investing in the technology itself. (more…)
October 12, 2026
What AI activity counts leave out
by Morissa Schwartz • AI, Comment