Online domain generator site Business Name Generator recently surveyed over 2,000 employees in the UK and US to understand AI’s impact in today’s workplace. Understanding that AI is becoming more prevalent across various industries, they sought to gain insights into the benefits of it and the attitudes of the employees towards it.
Among their findings, they discovered that one in six employees would be happy with a robot boss. This raises further questions about what that would look like and how this would affect workplace dynamics and roles in the long run.
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BNG Survey Findings
In the UK, they surveyed 1,005 individuals who were employed in office-based roles in March 2023. When conducting the surveys, they specifically focused on asking questions about the current frustrations that these individuals may have with their superiors as well as their thoughts on incorporating AI into their workplace with the possibility of replacing their managers.
Although it was mentioned before that there are employees that would be happy with an AI superior, over 40% of the respondents across the UK and US admit to being scared if their bosses were to be replaced with AI.
Nevertheless, some of them do acknowledge the benefits of having an AI boss. This is understood by the researchers to mean that AI technology can contribute more to the workplace apart from efficiency and accuracy.
This is further illustrated by their finding that one in five employees think robots would do a better job than their current superiors, and one in three employees believes that robots will take over in the future workplace.
In the UK, the top three benefits mentioned of having a robot boss are ensuring no favouritism (33.33%), being better at making unbiased decisions (30.45%) and ensuring no discrimination (29.65%).
Additionally, 37% of employees also admit that they have left roles before due to their boss.
Through this, it is clear that a lot of the frustrations faced by employees are due to biases of the superiors that affect the workplace dynamic.
This raises questions about whether AI would be an answer for better employee well-being, relations and retention.
Industries in the UK Happy to Replace Boss with AI
The survey also found the industries in both countries that would be happiest to have superiors replaced with AI.
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In the UK industries happiest to replace their boss with a robot include:
- Arts & Culture: 30%
- HR: 23%
- Manufacturing & Utilities: 19%
- Finance: 19%
- Healthcare: 17%
Seeing that Arts & Culture as well as HR are the top industries happy with AI bosses, this means that AI will continue to become relevant in the workplace. This shows that more conversations on the integration of AI technology in the workplace are being held.
Overall, the BNG survey demonstrates that while there are employees who embrace the idea of AI bosses, there is also a significant portion of the workforce that harbours concerns and fears about such a change. However, the survey highlights the potential benefits of AI, including eliminating biases, making unbiased decisions, and ensuring equal treatment. As AI continues to advance, organizations must carefully consider the implications and navigate the delicate balance between human and machine interaction in the workplace.