Does AI actually save employees time? Data is contradictory
It’s early days for AI-assisted work , and sentiments are mixed about its benefits: Does AI actually bring value and save employees time, or does it bog them down and add unnecessary activities? Data from ActivTrak seems to vacillate between those two potential realities: The latest research from the productivity tracking software company says employees who use AI most heavily are working up to…
The narrative surrounding AI's impact on employee productivity remains unclear and contentious. A recent study by productivity tracking software company ActivTrak revealed conflicting results. While the latest research indicates heavy AI users working up to 90 minutes more daily compared to non-users, a previous ActivTrak report found employees working less with AI.
The disparity may stem from variations in data collection periods and sample sizes. The new study analyzed 9,140 knowledge workers across 467 enterprises over five months, contrasting with the prior report's analysis of 1.1 million hours of work from 163,638 employees over three years. Heavy AI users reportedly work between 8.42 and 9.08 hours daily, compared to 7.58 hours for non-users.
Notably, heavy AI users experience 22% shorter focus sessions (37.8 minutes) and switch apps 15% more frequently (1.7-4.2 times per hour) than light users (48.2 minutes, 0.6 times per hour). Despite these disruptions, ActivTrak's earlier findings showed AI increased daily productive time by 19 minutes, and overall focused session time rose by 13%.
However, the study suggests that organizations should be cautious about assuming AI-driven time savings lead to increased workloads, as managers might allocate additional tasks without clear boundaries. Analyst Sanchit Vir Gogia warns that ActivTrak's measurements rely on detectable data, which may not fully capture AI usage, especially on unmanaged devices or through APIs.
He cautions that improving per paid hour can mask unrecorded effort, and enterprises should examine how AI impacts specific individuals and the reasons behind the observed improvements.
Written by urgent.news from Computerworld's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
