Freshworks publishes global study on the use of and trust in AI

After two years of generative AI, organizations around the world are now really starting to understand how knowledge workers can use the new tools in all major business functions.

Freshworks recently released its 2024 Global AI Workplace Report, which surveyed 7,000 employees worldwide and in all major departments about their experiences. One key conclusion: AI is boosting work performance and unlocking higher value work for employees.

Equally telling is the level of trust employees have in AI despite ongoing questions and concerns about the technology. Nearly three out of four workers surveyed (72%) trust AI to add value to their work processes. Even more (81%) trust AI because they believe the quality of work is good or that it makes their team more productive.

Here are some other highlights from the study:

Workers are using AI, often without realizing it
IT departments lead the league in AI usage, with 85% using it weekly. Marketing, at 80%, follows closely behind, using AI's creative turbo boost to quickly produce higher quality messaging and other creative assets.

Although there is still concern and a lack of trust in AI, the survey report suggests that employees in the workplace are using - and benefiting from - AI more than they realize. Four in ten employees surveyed assume they are using AI at work but report not knowing to what extent or how.

Key impacts and performance metrics
Workers are already seeing significant productivity gains from using AI at work. Employees surveyed in the Freshworks report estimate that AI already reduces their workload by three hours and 47 minutes in a typical work week, by summarizing reports, suggesting next steps, handling repetitive tasks, and other efficiencies.

By freeing up almost 24 working days - or just over a month of work - per year, employees can take on higher-value work that provides greater engagement.

Balancing confidence and opportunity
Employees are positive about the value that AI can deliver to their careers. Seven out of ten employees believe that AI will help them remain marketable. They also trust AI-generated work, but with caveats: 69% would trust AI even more with mandatory human review.

There is also a FOMO factor at play, as employees look at competitors and worry about falling behind. More than a third (37%) say adoption is driven by fear of not innovating fast enough, and over half (53%) report pushing AI internally to avoid being overtaken by competitors.

Global workplace adoption
Despite being the epicenter of AI software development, the US ranks last in AI adoption
(50%), trust in AI in the workplace (59%), and comfort with using AI (61%).

To put this in perspective, the figures for India and the United Arab Emirates are significantly higher in all categories: AI use (75%), trust in AI in the workplace (86%) and comfort with using AI (88%).

For more information and survey results, download the full report via the form below.