Fewer than one in 10 Canadian employees use workplace artificial intelligence tools daily, even as more than half say the technology boosts productivity, according to a new survey by TD Bank Group.
The survey, which polled more than 2,500 workers, found 56 per cent of Canadians who use AI at work said the tools enhance their productivity. One in 10 (14 per cent) said they use them weekly, 13 per cent monthly and 42 per cent said they never use employer-provided AI tools.
Younger employees showed the greatest optimism, with generation Z (69 per cent) and millennials (59 per cent) more likely to view AI as a career enhancer than generation X (50 per cent) and baby boomers (38 per cent).
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Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of employees using AI said they haven’t received adequate training from their employer, while a similar percentage (58 per cent) said colleagues didn’t know how to use AI tools properly and almost half (48 per cent) said their managers were out of touch.
More than half (52 per cent) of AI users said proficiency provided a competitive career edge, though more than a quarter (27 per cent) admitted exaggerating their expertise to colleagues. A generational divide was also evident, with nearly a third (32 per cent) of generation Z viewing AI as more of an opportunity than a threat to jobs, compared to a fifth of millennials (23 per cent), generation X (18 per cent) and baby boomers (19 per cent).
“AI was transforming the workplace and creating powerful new opportunities for growth, learning and career advancement,” said Tina Robinet, senior vice-president of human resources shared services at TD, in a press release. “At TD, we saw AI not just as a tool but as an opportunity to enable and empower employees. Our focus was on building colleague confidence around new technologies.”
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