That’s more than a third of the population, and is a huge increase on last year––when, for example, only four million Brits used it for work purposes. But this year, according to research from Deloitte, that figure has risen to 66%.

Of those already using generative AI tools to help them out at work, 10% are doing so daily, 26% weekly, with 41% saying they use AI tools on a less than monthly basis.

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This is resulting in a significant disconnect. Workplace leadership attitudes to generative AI usage, and the tack employees are taking, is often very different.

As a result we are seeing the rise of BYOAI in the use of assistive tools like Gemini, Claude or ChatGPT. They’re useful for research, creating a document outline, summarising a meeting report, or even composing emails.

Generative AI has a huge number of potential use-cases across industries. But Paul Lee, the partner and head of technology, media and telecommunications research at Deloitte, says people should exercise caution.

“Employees are moving faster than their employers when it comes to adopting GenAI to transform how they work. While workers are signalling that GenAI can boost their output and save them time, many employees may not be supported, encouraged, or explicitly endorsed to use the technology by their organisation.”

A new report from Asana agrees. The report says that “as AI permeates organisations, a troubling reality emerges: most are dangerously underprepared [...] dangerous divides exist between executives and individual contributors in terms of AI enthusiasm, adoption, and perceived benefits”.

Only 31% of companies have a formal AI strategy in place, and despite 78% of executives believing that combining AI with human expertise can result in better outcomes, only 13% of organisations have developed shared AI guidelines.

AI training is the solution

Improper use of generative AI tools can have significant impacts, and as a result companies such as Apple, Samsung, JPMorgan Chase, and Goldman Sachs have all banned the use of ChatGPT.

Generative AI tools use inputs as training data unless you opt out, so it is easy to see how sensitive information may become publicly available. This is precisely the sort of issue that  can hamper the creation policies around acceptable use. 

However, companies can’t sleep on AI usage, and they need to take the lead. Asana’s report points out that 56% of workers are taking control of their generative AI learning journey through their own personal experimentation, but this shouldn’t be the case.

“Organisations must also facilitate learning by providing resources, training programs, and support structures,” the report states. “Prioritising AI literacy, training, and development is essential and requires a collaborative effort between employees and companies to ensure teams are equipped with both tools and knowledge to use AI effectively”.

Costi Perricos, partner and global generative AI lead at Deloitte, agrees. “Whether organisations have supportive or strict policies on the use of Generative AI, it is clear that improving business AI fluency is vital. 

He recommends that generative AI tool deployment should go alongside a comprehensive learning and development programme, including training on ethics and responsible use, and guidance on how to get the most value from these tools. 

Getting it right matters. Asana’s report highlights the fact that employees using AI daily are the ones seeing the biggest gains, with 89% reporting a productivity boost. For employees, working in an organisation that is slow to act or which has unclear guidelines can be frustrating. 

If you’re finding that your own workplace has an opaque approach to the use of generative AI, it could be time to look for a role at a company which has a clear policy, guidelines and budget for the right tools for the job.

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