Currently there seems to be an increasing interest within society to find out from others what people’s ‘quick wins’ are when it comes to AI usage…..and fantastically people are happy to share their examples and top tips! I’m delighted to see this sense of exploration and innovation with AI, with people genuinely excited and happy to discuss it.
However, what I’m finding in many of my conversations, is that the examples cited are generally about how people use AI in their personal life. Whether it’s using it to manage their home life better or being more creative with their children.
When it comes to people’s experiences of using AI within the workplace, the conversations unfortunately seem to become far less interesting and positive, with limited examples given.
This is by no means the case for all of my conversations, as I’ve had a few amazing chats with people doing incredible things with AI within their work. It does appear however, that for a significant proportion of people, the level of creativity and innovation being practised at home is not being replicated within the office.
Talking to people about why their AI usage is so different at home to in the workplace, often the key words used are ‘confidence’ and ‘understanding’. Whilst people feel comfortable to ‘dabble’ on their own accounts and personal devices, this confidence seems to massively reduce in their professional lives.
A lack of understanding (and often awareness) of an institution’s AI and data policies, little if any guidance or support from line managers about when they should be using AI within their work, and limited training to underpin the company’s requirements and extend the learning beyond the basics. These are just a few reasons expressed to me by HE colleagues to explain the difference in attitudes.
Many have also said they wouldn’t want to share with colleagues their experiences of using AI within the workplace, for fear of being judged or told they’re doing something wrong.
My discussions have recently been corroborated in a global report by Anthropic (What 81,000 people want from AI) which found that entrepreneurs and small business owners (thereby able to directly tackle the challenges cited above) were more than three times as likely to experience economic benefit from AI. (47% of small business owners reported real economic empowerment, as opposed to just 14% of institutional employees.)
So what is the takeaway from this?
Well, the good news is that there’s a general interest and energy around AI within the home. The question is whether the challenges posed above can be overcome by institutions, so that this can spread into the workplace – but as the saying goes “Where there’s a will, there’s a way”!
A good place to start:
- Work with senior leaders to create a positive and exploratory environment for AI, so that people feel able to bring their home-learnings into the workplace.
- Ensure that senior leaders can access personalised, relatable AI training, so that they are informed and supported to have the confidence to make the necessary decisions / meet the needs of the workforce.
- Communicate on a regular basis, and at all levels, the relevant AI and data policies, so that everyone is aware of their existence. Support this with training, so that people fully understand what they mean in relation to their own roles and responsibilities.
- Provide a range of AI training for all staff – from foundational right through to advanced, as you never know what amazing AI enthusiasts you have hidden away within your team!
- Promote a collaborative approach to learning – encouraging people to share their AI learnings at team meetings or spend 10mins of a departmental meeting trying a new AI tool all together.
- Overall, encourage people to have fun with using AI; removing any potential fears or anxieties and instead promoting innovation and excitement.
About the author: Katie Steen is the co-founder of WorkSmart-AI, which specialises in supporting universities to adopt AI, through senior leader consultancy and task-based workforce training.
Katie and her co-founder Dave Weller have both worked within educational L&D and communications for over twenty years, most recently as Digital Skills Leads at the University of Exeter.
If you’re keen to find out more about what AI training and consulting packages they offer, please visit their website: WorkSmart-AI.co.uk