Embracing AI in the workplace: 5 ways to overcome resistance and maximize opportunities

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.

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.

🤔 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.

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:

The pros and cons of using AI

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.