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Embracing AI in the workplace: 5 ways to overcome resistance and maximize opportunities
Forget the science-fiction scenario where machines rule the world. In reality, we've got generative AI stepping in for something a little less ‘Black Mirror’ and a little more ‘The Office’: taking care of those mundane yet time-consuming tasks in the workplace.
So, instead of relying on sci-fi for answers, let's dive into some down-to-earth, real-world examples.
What can we learn from businesses and people who have already adopted AI in the workplace? Below, we outline five key insights into the challenges and opportunities that come with this growing field.
Summary
Here are five ways to use AI in the workplace:
Increase work efficiency: automate mundane tasks to save hundreds of hours in yearly productivity
Enhance human output: leverage AI assistance to augment worker capabilities without replacing entire jobs
Frame AI’s role now and in the near future: incorporate AI into workflows or develop products with AI components
Increase AI-related training for employees: provide AI training to boost efficiency and achieve long-term cost savings
Address bias and safety and security concerns: mitigate bias, prevent misuse, and use AI to manage AI-related challenges
Where are the AI-savvy workers at?
We’re still in the early stages of the AI revolution, and there are varying levels of openness to using AI at work. We could group employees into three potential categories based on where they stand.
Before exploring AI’s risks and potential in the workplace, take a quick look at the next section—which attitude best describes you?
🤩 The optimist
We’re in the middle of yet another technological revolution—and there’s nowhere this individual would rather be. They love to play around and push the possibilities that generative AI brings.
Think about early adopters: the builders, users, and, not surprisingly, members of Gen Z.
Meet an optimist: Ioana Teleanu
We don't have to go far to find the perfect example. Ioana Teleanu, a distinguished UX design expert and regular Hotjar collaborator, admits she's one of the optimists.
Ioana had built AI-driven products before ChatGPT exploded, so she's optimistic about the technology's impact on UX design:
"I do see the concerns. I also have some fears around it. But overall, I think the impact is positive. And if I reflect back on other moments in time when we’ve made technological progress at this speed, it felt like there was a lot of uncertainty, like the ground was shaking. But I feel like, in the end, it took us to a new level of how we work, and it made a positive impact. And AI is doing that as well."
Watch this video for more insights into the intersection between AI and UX design
🤔 The curious
The search keyword 'generative AI' reached peak popularity for the first time in February 2023. If this event indicates anything, it's how much AI has piqued people’s interest. AI-curious employers and workers may find themselves discussing this tech at length, wanting to decide on the top, tried-and-tested tools before committing.
Does this sound like you?
🤨 The skeptic
Finally, the third type of worker doubts AI's impact. Some employees think AI might even complicate their jobs further, as they lack encouragement and training from their companies.
Others fear the possibility of producing less accurate output when AI augments their work. Equally valid are common concerns related to data privacy.
How to embrace AI in the workplace
Automation and AI in the workplace comes with its own set of opportunities and challenges. As promised, here are five examples of AI in the workplace. It's up to you whether to treat them as a problem or a possibility.
1. Save hundreds of hours in productivity per year
A recent study found that United Kingdom employees tapping into AI tools and features save 1.55 hours daily or 390 hours annually. This could also be the case worldwide, as workers rely primarily on generative AI to automate mundane but time-consuming tasks, such as
Checking grammar and tone
Brainstorming ideas
Generating customer experience (CX) surveys
For example, you might use AI to draft emails or summarize meeting notes, freeing up valuable time so you can get to your favorite tasks swiftly by outsourcing the rest.
2. Understand how AI products enhance human output
A popular saying goes: AI will not replace you, but the person using AI will.
Through AI's personalized recommendations, people can spend less time on tasks they don't enjoy while ensuring satisfactory results. They get to channel their best efforts toward tasks they enjoy or excel at. More importantly, workers can focus on things AI can’t do, like creating a human connection with customers and lurking longer in the problem space to genuinely empathize with users. It’s a win-win for everyone involved when AI helps you deliver the experiences your end-users deserve.
It's like each team or worker having a graduate-level AI assistant: this aide or associate augments your natural capabilities so you can reduce cognitive load, be more creative, improve accuracy, and make better decisions for your users.
For instance, our AI-curious Content Marketing team handcrafts the meaty stuff you read on our site but, at the same time, experiments with AI to write concise meta info, article summaries, and content briefs.
All this shows you can control artificial intelligence, not the other way around. And that's a skill that more and more employers have started looking for in job candidates—just ask all the ‘prompt engineers’ cropping up on LinkedIn.
3. Frame AI’s role now and in the near future
No matter your industry, you can approach artificial intelligence in one of two ways:
Work with AI: blend AI features and software into everyday tasks, e.g. a marketer generating images via Midjourney and a startup entrepreneur creating a Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey with Hotjar AI for Surveys
Work for AI: build products with at least an AI component or capability, e.g. Canva AI image-editing tools for simplifying intensive photo editing tasks and Notion AI for summarizing existing content in the users’ work hub
Here’s a brilliant example of incorporating advanced AI models to improve current workflows or invent new ones:
Kristin Tynski, co-founder of Fractl, wrote Python scripts that integrate advanced AI models. The result? Over 20 specialized tools for content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), public relations, and social media.
Kristin’s AI tool for SEO and content creation, via LinkedIn
This one, still from Kristin, is for social media strategy, via LinkedIn
Create targeted surveys with AI
Launch Hotjar AI for Surveys and generate a goal-specific survey in seconds. Our AI-powered survey tool makes it easy to learn how customers feel about and experience your product. Get started with a free Hotjar account.
4. Increase AI-related training for employees
Sure, AI-curious individuals eat up AI content like tips and tricks for leveraging ChatGPT on the job. But nothing beats a ChatGPT Plus account for your employees—and equipping them with best practices.
Enabling them to learn the skill in the workplace boosts their efficiency and saves businesses money in the long run.
5. Address concerns about bias and safety and security
In Ioana’s ‘Future of AI and UX design’ talk, she stressed the importance of setting guardrails against the societal bias that can be reflected in our data. Data scientists, product teams, and web developers should, therefore, ensure the data fed to products is representative, inclusive, and ethical.
Tying into this are users' safety and security concerns. On one occasion, Microsoft Bing became aggressive toward users, prompting a temporary shutdown. There's also the possibility of bad agents exploiting the technology, like cyber-criminals launching more advanced phishing attacks, which endangers workers and their organizations.
Some solutions, like updating laws and regulations and enhancing compliance, are obvious—but they require tremendous effort to execute. So put your thinking hat on and take a page from Bill Gates' playbook:
Bill Gates writes about the path to mitigating AI risks, via LinkedIn
The pros and cons of using AI
Pros
Cons
Supports employee productivity
Struggles to figure out what problems to solve
Augments employees' natural capabilities
Behaves erratically at times
Inspires innovation, helping create new roles, businesses, and challenges
Needs guidance and has trouble understanding context
Revolutionizes industries, from marketing and design to legal and medical care
Lacks empathy and awareness of human psychology to relate to users’ emotions
Balancing the good, the bad, and the ugly
We’ve shared real-life stories demonstrating how AI is used in the workplace—from the simple to the groundbreaking. While they may not convert a skeptic into an optimist overnight, we hope they open your eyes to the AI momentum happening in the workplace.
And if you know it’s time to whet your appetite, go ahead and start with simple, AI-powered tools. Baby steps are fine. Figure out what works for you along the way, and let your company evolve and expand with generative AI as another way to improve your user experience.
Create targeted surveys with AI
Launch Hotjar AI for Surveys and generate a goal-specific survey in seconds. Our AI-powered survey tool makes it easy to learn how customers feel about and experience your product. Get started with a free Hotjar account.
FAQs about embracing AI in the workplace
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