Since its launch last November, ChatGPT, the AI-powered chatbot, has seen an astounding 1,700 percent surge in usage, becoming a significant player in the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence.
With over 100 million users worldwide, the chatbot has generated intense debate, particularly concerning its role in the workplace.
Indusface, a leading research organisation, sought to delve deeper into the adoption of ChatGPT in various industries across the United Kingdom. Their recent survey, involving 2,000 workers spanning different job levels and sectors, sheds light on how ChatGPT is being utilised in professional settings.
Adding valuable insights to the findings, Venky Sundar, Founder and President of Indusface, shared his perspectives on the risks and benefits associated with the integration of ChatGPT in the business world.
Key Findings:
- Advertising Leads the Way: The advertising industry emerges as the leading sector embracing ChatGPT in the workplace, with a whopping 39 percent of respondents acknowledging its use for work-related tasks.
- Legal Industry Follows Closely: The legal sector secures the second position, with 38 percent of respondents utilising ChatGPT or alternative AI methods, reflecting the growing influence of AI in improving contract efficiency and automation within the legal field.
- Arts & Media Ranks Third: Arts & Media stands as the third-highest industry, with 33 percent of workers admitting to employing ChatGPT for their professional tasks. Remarkably, over 13 percent of art workers use AI at least once a week, demonstrating a high frequency of utilisation in this sector.
Despite ChatGPT’s popularity, the survey by Indusface unveils a significant trust gap among business workers, with 55 percent expressing skepticism about collaborating with companies using ChatGPT or similar AI solutions in their workspace.
Top Five Use Cases for ChatGPT in UK Businesses:
- Writing Reports (27%): ChatGPT is predominantly employed for generating reports, with 27 percent of respondents using it for this purpose.
- Translations (25%): Translation tasks claim the second spot, with 25 percent of users relying on ChatGPT for language translation at work.
- Research (17%): Approximately 17 percent of respondents use ChatGPT for research-related activities, highlighting its value in information gathering.
- Client Emails (11%): Surprisingly, 11 percent of employees in the survey use ChatGPT to draft client emails, demonstrating its versatility in aiding communication.
- Internal Emails (8%): Lastly, 8 percent of users leverage ChatGPT for composing internal emails, streamlining their correspondence.
Venky Sundar, Founder and President of Indusface, weighed in on the risks and benefits associated with ChatGPT’s integration into the workplace. He highlighted the potential risks related to legal document subjectivity and data security while emphasising the benefits of rapid draft generation and idea framing. Sundar also underscored the importance of rigorous security testing before deploying AI-generated code.
Sundar noted that the maturity level of data management and trust ownership remains a challenge, and businesses’ hesitance to fully trust AI is understandable. He acknowledged the transformative potential of AI, allowing rapid development cycles, but also cautioned against rushing untested solutions to market.
As the adoption of ChatGPT and similar AI technologies continues to rise, the business world grapples with the ongoing evolution of these tools, navigating the delicate balance between innovation and risk management.
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.
