Generative AI tools in use: Employee expectations

Generative AI continues to be a hot topic, both in tech and outside the industry as organizations identify the best ways to leverage the technology to optimize their work.

And according to new research commissioned by Hyland and conducted by Walker Sands, workers are seeing the advantages it provides and becoming increasingly comfortable using the technology in their day-to-day work.

Ninety-five percent of survey respondents — 900 full-time employees above the age of 18 who are based in the US and use Gen AI tools for work at least once a month — said they were either somewhat confident or very confident using Gen AI tools in their everyday role. Good news!

That comfort, though, comes with caveats. Respondents also indicated they want much more support when it comes to the technology:

• 98% of respondents said they wanted some level of training on the tech

• 57% of respondents said they desired company-specific training modules and programs

• Soft skills were also a focal point for GenAI users, who said AI ethics (47% of respondents) and AI compliance and security (46%) were important to them

• Interestingly, while a large majority of respondents said they were somewhat or very confident using the technology, 43% also said they wanted additional available measures to fact check the technology’s output

“We will continue to find new and innovative ways to shorten our labor gaps with intelligent customized AI interactions and processes, but we will need access to skills in our teams who can build them,” said Steve Watt, Hyland’s chief information officer. “We need to be ramping up our own AI skills — both within our technical teams, as those platforms on which our teams build solutions are rapidly deploying AI capabilities, and within our business groups so they, too, can understand where and how these technologies may have the most impact.”

Additionally, the comfort with which respondents indicated they use Gen AI tools does raise the question of whether that comfort could lead to security concerns. As with any new technology, cybersecurity experts caution against lax controls when implementing these tools.

“Even as these Gen AI users get more comfortable, we still must have in place foundational processes to secure the environment and ensure these users know that security is their responsibility,” said Dylan Border, director of cybersecurity at Hyland. “The survey data shows that these users are cognizant of their role in security, as they indicated they’d like more training and knowledge. As enterprises, we can provide that to ensure we’re providing as much security as possible throughout the organization.”