Has AI adoption slowed?
Yes. To a crawl.
Use of AI among U.S. workers stalls
Despite ongoing enthusiasm from tech-happy management, the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by U.S. workers has slowed to a crawl.
The latest Slack Workforce Index reveals that AI adoption rates among American employees have effectively stalled over the past three months, inching up from 32% to just 33%. This is a stark contrast to the 8% growth observed a year ago.
What the research shows
Many employees remain uncertain about when it’s socially or professionally appropriate to use AI in the workplace — and they’re keeping their usage confidential.
Nearly half of all workers admit they feel uncomfortable disclosing their use of AI for routine job tasks. The top reasons cited by Slack include:
- Feeling like using AI is cheating
- Fear of being seen as less competent
- Fear of being seen as lazy
Why is this happening?
According to insights from the online business education platform Section:
“In most jobs, value is defined in one of two ways — coming up with great ideas or putting in effort to accomplish a lot of work. People who generate novel ideas or complete numerous tasks are seen as more valuable. Using AI challenges these principles. If you’re leveraging AI effectively, you’re likely working less and relying on the tool for many ideas — meaning you may not be seen as the source of your output.”
This blend of social stigma and professional uncertainty may explain why AI adoption among workers is advancing at a snail’s pace, despite its potential to revolutionize productivity.
Our thoughts
I wish the same sluggish trend were happening in the marketing and web design professions. Sadly, too many overcomplicated AI-driven marketing platforms are being foisted upon unsuspecting small businesses seeking help. I can’t think of a quicker way to homogenize the websites of an entire business category than by overloading them with unfiltered generative AI content and processes. This is selling FOMO at its worst.
