Hype aside, AI may not be turbo-charging employee productivity just yet

Offering a different narrative on AI

The study specifically looked at the Danish labor market in 2023 and 2024, gathering data from 25,000 workers and 7,000 workplaces. The researchers chose 11 “exposed” occupations: software developers, IT support, financial advisors, HR, accountants, customer-support, legal, marketing, office clerks, journalists and teachers.

The study found that, by late 2024, AI chatbots were widespread: most firms surveyed were encouraging chatbot use, while 38% had their own in-house models, and 30% of employees said they received training on AI tools. Research also revealed that, even with the wide variety of AI tools on the market today, ChatGPT remains the dominant player.

Notably, the researchers found that AI created new tasks for 8.4% of workers, even some who don’t personally use chatbots. These tasks tend to be more sophisticated, such as designing prompts and analyzing outputs, suggesting AI may restructure jobs.