If you’re tracking tech news headlines, it may seem like AI is being used everywhere, from the workplace to the classroom and even kids’ entertainment. A new report shows exactly how much the business world has embraced the promise of AI, finding that a startlingly high proportion of corporate (and government) written content is actually already being written by AI tools.
This supports many AI proponents who argue that the tech doesn’t so much replace people in their jobs, but instead takes on simple, mundane tasks, freeing workers up to tackle more productive things. But a different study that assesses how workers who are using AI feel may give you pause. Its finding could possibly push you to reconsider when and how you roll out new AI tools to assist your workforce in their daily tasks.
In the study scientists looked across online data sources, examining text published between January 2022 and September 2024 and found that on average 17 percent (about one in every seven words) of published corporate and governmental written material was created by AIs—not by human hands. As science news outlet Phys.org notes, this includes materials from job posts to press releases. The start date for the data sweep is important, since it covers the period in late 2022 when ChatGPT was arguably the first new-generation AI to become publicly available. The scientists noted that this rate is likely to increase in time. And this makes sense, given the constantly increasing number of AI tool releases, combined with increasing capabilities of newer AI models.
The data tally with other reports about sweeping AI adoption, and with findings that AI is taking on so many simple workplace duties normally meted out to entry-level workers that some Gen-Z people freshly hitting the job market are having a hard time finding work.
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AI tools use for corporate writing tool is also increasing despite the known risks of relying on the technology, which can fabricate information and try to pass it off as real—potentially exposing corporate AI users to legal harm if the material is then published without human fact checking.
Meanwhile, a separate report from San Francisco software firm Asana found that knowledge workers (essentially most office-based jobs that rely on computer interactions) would happily delegate 27 percent of their work to AI agents right now, if they could. They also expect this figure to rise to over 40 percent in the next three years. That figure may sound surprising, because it’s nearly half of their entire workload.
Not all AI tools are the same, however, and this report relates to next-generation AI systems called agents, rather than query-response AI systems like ChatGPT. AI agents are more advanced than the simpler generative AI tools that may be used to, say, help an HR team craft a job posting or a PR team to shape a press release. Agents have a degree of autonomy and can complete tasks in an online environment automatically — like filling in a time sheet on a website, for example.
​​But the Asana data highlights an issue with AI use, that also reflects on the data concerning AI business writing. While 82 percent of the knowledge workers Asana interviewed agreed that they needed proper training to use AI agents in an effective manner, just 38 percent of companies now provide that training. In a media release, Asana noted that without foundational training, teams can’t “provide effective oversight or course correction.” This means if AI-induced errors happen and are then built into products or publications the company uses, “errors repeat” and “trust erodes further.”
Essentially this suggests the people who are being asked to use AI by their managers — perhaps responding to corporate-level demands to find efficiencies and boost worker output via AI tools—are distrustful of the tech, partly because they’re not being trained to use it. This may sow discontent at management decisions. HRDive notes that 54 percent of the knowledge workers surveyed said AI agents were creating extra work, as teams had to correct or redo tasks, instead of saving the company time and money.
Combined, the two reports paint a picture of businesses rushing to maximize AI tool use by their workers, including in public-facing corporate writing and in daily tasks by office staff, with little regard for the actual impact on company efficiency. Many aren’t even attempting to train staff on the proper use of this powerful new tech. Ultimately this could see rapid AI rollouts eroding worker efficiency.
The big takeaway for your own company is that if you’re giving AI tools to your staff, they need proper training if you expect to see measurable returns on investment. AI outputs require human checking and rechecking before they go into public-facing products or inform corporate decisions, and this may actually be adding to your staff workloads rather than easing them. Talking to your staff about the AI tools they need and are actually finding useful is the mark of a tech-savvy leader today.