UK Workers Spend Hours Weekly Managing AI Tools, Negating Gains
A new report indicates UK workers spend nearly six hours weekly managing AI tools, a practice termed 'botsitting'. Despite widespread AI adoption, most employees find the time spent correcting AI errors and restarts offsets productivity gains, with many AI sessions failing.
Key points
- Nearly 90 percent of UK digital workers now use AI tools in their roles.
- Employees spend an average of 5.8 hours weekly on 'botsitting' AI, managing errors and restarts.
- Around 36 percent of AI sessions reportedly fail, requiring significant rework.
- Despite AI adoption, only 18 percent of organizations report significant performance improvements.
- The Work AI Institute, part of Glean Technologies, conducted the survey of 1,500 workers.
A recent report by the Work AI Institute, a research arm of Glean Technologies, reveals that UK workers are dedicating a substantial portion of their week to managing artificial intelligence tools. The phenomenon, dubbed 'botsitting,' involves employees spending time hand-holding AI systems and rectifying their mistakes.
The survey of 1,500 digital workers found that 90 percent are now required to use AI in their jobs, with 80 percent using multiple tools weekly. While AI automation is estimated to save employees around 12 hours per week, the report highlights that nearly six hours of this is consumed by 'botsitting.' This occurs because AI tools frequently fail, with over a third of sessions requiring restarts or substantial corrections.
Consequently, the intended productivity gains from AI are largely negated. Only 18 percent of respondents agreed that AI has significantly improved their organization's overall performance. The findings suggest that the human labor required to ensure AI output is usable is consuming the time supposedly freed up by automation, hindering broader efficiency improvements.
Sources
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