by Colin Kirkland
Source: www.mediapost.com, May 2024
As the use of “artificial intelligence” (AI) continues to spread across industries and headlines, it can be difficult to track and understand the overall AI landscape.
This is why LinkedIn has partnered with parent company Microsoft to offer a detailed overview of the growing impact of AI, especially among marketers.
The report, which surveyed 31,000 people across 31 countries, shows that use of generative-AI technology has almost doubled over the past six months, with 75% of global knowledge workers using AI tools in daily tasks.
Nine in ten users say AI helps them save time, over 80% say it helps them focus on their most important work, be more creative, and enjoy their work more, which is feedback that aligns with what tech giants like Meta have been pitching around their emerging generative-AI ad tools –– to fulfill mundane tasks so workers have more time to strategize.
However, while this may be true in some cases, workers are still concerned about being replaced by the development of AI tools. Almost 80% of AI users bring their own AI tools to work, especially at small and medium-sized companies. But over half of people who use AI at work are reluctant to admit using it for their most important tasks and worry that doing so makes them look replaceable.
Many of these people (68%) bring AI tools to their jobs because they struggle with the pace and volume of work; 46% feel burned out. The report suggests that without company-wide AI adoption, company data may be at risk.
But leaders who are “extremely familiar” with AI plan on implementing company-wide integrations over the next five years. Between 40% and 50% of these leaders are expecting to redesign business processes from the ground up with AI and anticipate orchestrating and training a team of AI bots.
Based on LinkedIn user data, AI skills are becoming more crucial to employers. Two-thirds of leaders say they won’t hire anyone without AI skills, while 71% say they’d rather hire a less experienced candidate with AI skills than a more experienced candidate without them.
LinkedIn data points included in the report also show a massive spike in user-interest surrounding AI. In the past six months, the use of LinkedIn Learning courses designed to build AI aptitude has jumped 160% among non-technical professionals, with roles like project managers, architects, and administrative assistants.
The professional social media network has also seen 142 times more LinkedIn members adding AI skills like ChatGPT and Copilot to their profiles, with writers, designers, and marketers topping the list.
“Marketers are interested for good reason,” the report suggests. “Two of the top ways B2B marketers say they plan to use generative AI this year include increasing efficiency to focus on higher value work (55%) and creating optimized and engaging content that resonates with target audiences (51%).”
