New research from Kore.ai, a leader in applying advanced AI responsibly, reveals that almost a quarter of the U.K. and U.S. workforces are spending half of their working day (three to four hours) on non-productive, manual tasks that could easily be automated.
Mundane tasks like searching or gathering information consume roughly 19% (1.8 hours) of an employee’s day, while there are scores of other areas where advanced AI technology like generative and conversational AI can help improve efficiencies by reducing human effort and enabling better experiences.
But lack of access to such advanced AI technologies is hampering employee productivity, leading to poor experience and lack of job satisfaction, even as global businesses brace themselves to compete in an increasingly unstable economy.
Most workers report that access to the right technology and challenging and stimulating work are most crucial to their job fulfillment. However, organizations aren’t delivering this advanced technology yet. The current workplace technology is more of a hinderance than a help, workers say, and at least one in three (31%) rate the legacy tools they use daily as “average” or “bad” in terms of ease-of-use, and in streamlining and simplifying their workloads. This poor experience only aggravates, with disapproval ratings rising to 48% for finance and 45% for HR tools.
As the technology evolves, generative AI in combination with conversational AI across various enterprise use cases, responsibly and safely, is expected to transform workplaces and streamline workflows so employees have more time to be productive and creative. By 2030, generative AI with AI-powered tools could automate 30% of hours worked today, predicts a study from McKinsey Global Institute.
In Kore.ai’s vision, every employee should have an AI-powered personal assistant that combines chat, digital, and voice interfaces with an ability to process information, knowledge, and take proactive action.
Currently, workers are held back by non-productive microtasks that they want off their to-do lists put in the hands of automation. This includes raising invoices or purchase orders (48%), finding information or documents (47%), raising an IT ticker or getting status updates (47%), and basic HR requestions like holiday or pay questions (45%).
“From the survey, it’s clear that employees are crying out for advanced AI-powered experiences to help get tasks done quickly, efficiently, and accurately,” says Raj Koneru, founder and CEO of Kore.ai. “Of the use cases we’ve implemented for our enterprise clients, about 42% of those focus on employee experiences and companies have seen an average 30% productivity gain and higher satisfaction with AI-enabled IVAs assisting employees in day-to-day tasks.”
The greater acceptance from employees, consumers, and contact center agents for AI-powered solutions counters the narrative of AI technology replacing workers; instead, it underscores their strategic collaboration.
