According to their employees, 6 out of 10 executives are “digitally illiterate”

However, a growing number of their employees are frustrated by the “digital illiteracy” of their bosses, which is holding them back from the productivity gains promised through the use of AI.

A 2023 tech.io study found that two-thirds of business leaders have barely adopted new AI technologies in their workplace due to a lack of awareness of their usefulness.

Now workers say this reluctance is holding back their productivity. According to a survey conducted by STEM advisory group SThree, employees say they lose six hours a week on manual tasks that could be easily automated with the right tools.

Some 63% of employees believe that the main reason managers do not use artificial intelligence tools is because they are “digitally illiterate.”

A Dutch construction worker told SThree that “(lack of access to the latest AI tools) has led to a noticeable drop in my motivation to take on new challenges at work.”

Meanwhile, a Japanese engineer told the group, “I have to spend a significant amount of time on repetitive tasks that can be automated.”

Europe’s artificial intelligence boom

Europe lags behind the US in the number of big tech companies, with the biggest winners of the AI ​​generation boom coming from the States in Nvidia, Google and Meta, to name a few.

However, there are signs that the region’s largest companies, mostly industrial, are taking steps to integrate AI into their work processes. Automakers such as Volkswagen are using chatbots for in-car entertainment systems and are considering using artificial intelligence to improve safety and automation.

Meanwhile, oil and gas giant Shell has used artificial intelligence to solve everything from optimizing drilling operations to predictive maintenance.

“The question for European companies is how they can use AI more aggressively, regardless of its origin. They have great potential to take advantage of the billions of dollars being invested around the world,” Mark Read CBE, chief executive of advertising giant WPP, previously said. Luck.

However, SThree’s analysis shows that employees in non-tech sectors are not getting the access they need to the latest automated technologies.

There is evidence that workers are beginning to secretly use this technology. A recent Salesforce report found that one in five workers were “clandestine” AI users, hiding their activities from colleagues and bosses because they were unsure of the rules and expectations for using the technology in the workplace.

The study provides a counterbalance to claims that employees are afraid new AI tools will replace them and don’t want their employers to adopt the technology.

Customer service workers in particular fear they will be replaced by AI, and technology groups such as Klarna are hoping to reduce their workforce by 1,800 people using AI.

“Of course, concerns about job security as technology advances are real and leaders should not ignore them,” said Timo Lehne, CEO of SThree.

“But our results show that leaders are hesitant and need to use AI in ways that their teams have already done. If they don’t, they will become a stumbling block to the future growth of their organization and a source of increasing employee frustration.”