As the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT continues to disrupt key industries, new findings reveal that 43% of professional workers are using ChatGPT for work-related tasks — and 68% are doing so without their manager’s knowledge.
This is a significant surge from the 27% of professionals using the content generation technology in early January, with employees belonging to a range of high-profile companies including Google, Twitter, and JP Morgan.
The impact its uptake will have on the business landscape is yet to be seen. Yet, with the insurgent app gaining 100 million users since November — making it the fastest-growing app in history — and Google and Microsoft preparing to roll out similar models, its use in the workplace isn’t set to fade anytime soon.
43% of Workers Are Using ChatGPT
ChatGPT is an AI-powered chatbot developed by OpenAI that uses deep learning techniques to create human like-responses.
Since it was first released in November, the free application has already gained a loyal user base among consumers. However, according to a recent survey by the professional messaging app Fishbowl, the use of ChatGPT has become extremely popular in workplace settings too, with almost half of the respondents admitting to using the tool at work in some capacity.
Specifically, out of the 11,793 professionals that took place in the survey, 5,067 (43%) use AI tools like ChatGPT for various tasks related to content creation including writing emails and copywriting. This is up almost 50% from early January, which is a stark signal of how fast this new technology is spreading.
But despite apps like ChatGPT recently entering the limelight, most employees aren’t using them in plain sight. In fact, when the workers were asked if their boss was aware of their practices, 68% of AI users admitted to concealing their use of the tech at the workplace.
White-collar workers aren’t taking a fully clandestine approach to using the tool, however, with discussions relating to ChatGPT surging by 107% on Fishbowl’s social media platform between January 2 and January 23. But since the artificial intelligence tool has entered the world of work, where is it being used the most?
Which Workers Are Using ChatGPT?
Due to ChatGPT’s varied applications, the language model can be leveraged by businesses in just about every industry. However, according to another survey by Fishbowl, marketing, and advertising companies have adopted the technology the most, with 37% of workers in the sector using the tool in some form when carrying out work-related tasks.
Tech and consulting are also turning to AI solutions in mass, with 35% and 31% of workers in the fields using apps like ChatGPT, respectively. These results chime with the findings of Fishbowl’s most recent survey, which confirmed that the tech is being utilized in major financial tech and consultancy companies like Google, Amazon, Meta, Twitter, McKisney, and Edelman.
But ChatGPT’s use isn’t limited to the professional world. A new survey by Study.com has found that one in four K-12 teachers have caught at least one student using ChatGPT to cheat at school. But teachers are fighting back against its growing adoption in classrooms, with New York City Public Schools banning the technology outright — and school boards in many states, like California, Washington, and Maryland considering taking similar actions.
AI Continues to Transform the Way We Work
As ChatGPT continues to take the world by storm, major tech companies are scrambling for their slice of the AI pie.
At the end of January, Microsoft confirmed that it would be investing a further $10 billion into ChatGPT’s developer OpenAI, as part of a wider effort to incorporate machine learning technology in their services. Microsoft Azure will also continue to be OpenAI’s exclusive cloud provider, in a partnership that will expose countless more businesses to AI technology.
Google has rolled out its new AI-powered chatbot ‘Apprentice Bard‘, too, as part of a ‘code red’ response to ChatGPT’s raging success. However, the technology firm’s share price plummeted 7% after its chatbot failed to answer a question correctly in a recent live stream, suggesting that the search tool has got a long way to go before it can replicate ChatGPT’s impressive levels of success.
