Two-thirds (67%) of people in Ireland who use generative artificial intelligence (AI) believe it boosts their productivity at work, but only a quarter (24%) say they are actively encouraged to use the technologies by their employer, Deloitte has found.
Nine in 10 (90%) Irish companies lack a generative AI policy despite the share of people using it for work tasks increasing year-on-year from 32% to 36%, although personal (69%) and educational (38%) purposes remain the top reasons for usage.
Of the 67% of users who believe generative AI makes them more productive at work, 44% said they use the technology for writing and editing emails and for looking up information.
A total of 42% use it to generate ideas, 38% use it for creating written content (38%), 35% for summarising texts and reports, 26% for editing, 25% for analysing data and 20% for generating images.
When generative AI users were asked if their employer encouraged them to use the technology at work, just 8% strongly agreed with the statement and 16% agreed.
“Employees in Ireland are racing ahead of their employers when it comes to GenAI. This means gains are being left on the table by employers and innovation is being stymied," said Emmanuel Adeleke, generative AI leader at Deloitte Ireland.
Deloitte surveyed 1,000 people in Ireland for its Digital Consumer Trends report, and founded that use of generative AI was highest among younger people, with 85% of people aged 18-24 and 69% of the 25-34 age group using it.
Usage then dropped significantly to 34% for those aged 45 to 54, 22% for those between 55 and 64 and 20% for those aged 65 to 75.
Of those using generative AI, 10% are using it daily, 28% are doing so weekly and 15% are using it monthly.
A total of 46% are using it less than monthly, with 24% of this cohort saying they don’t know how to use it well and 18% saying they are dissatisfied with the answers they receive.
“Our survey found that some users are willing to experiment with GenAI, but they are lacking confidence when it comes to knowing how to use it and ultimately find the experience to be unsatisfactory," said Adeleke.
"Organisations can address this through training and support, ensuring employees can use GenAI to meet their needs and transition into more frequent and more confident users.
"Employers should also consider a tailored approach for GenAI in the workplace that can address the differences in usage among age groups."
The survey shows that uncertainty around AI and its impact is a concern for 60% of users who are worried it will reduce the number of jobs available in future, and 46% who are concerned that it will replace some of their role in the workforce.
A significant proportion of users tend to trust the technologies, with 28% believing generative AI responses are unbiased and 34% agreeing that the technology “always produces accurate responses” despite well-documented issues.
The survey also showed that a majority of those who are aware of generative AI would be less inclined to trust AI-generated emails (66%) and AI-delivered customer services (63%).
ChatGPT is the most popular generative AI tool among people in Ireland, having been used by 49% of Irish users, far ahead of Snapchat's My AI (15%), Microsoft Copilot (13%) and Google Gemini (12%). The survey took place prior to the launch of DeepSeek.
“It is vital employers take the lead on the use of GenAI. They need to invest in initiatives and organisational changes that will drive adoption of GenAI tools and identify successful use cases for their organisations," said Adeleke of the results.
“There is a risk in not reacting to the increase in usage, particularly because users are not fully appreciative of the dangers involved as indicated by the level of trust certain users have in GenAI tools, despite well-documented reliability issues.
"If employers invest properly in GenAI and integrate it correctly, they will uncover the challenges involved and the tremendous potential of this technology.”
(Pic: Getty Images)
