Workers are taking AI matters into their own hands, say Microsoft and LinkedIn

The use of generative artificial intelligence at work has nearly doubled in the past six months, according to the 2024 Work Trend Index by Microsoft and LinkedIn.

The report is based on data gathered from 31,000 people across 31 countries, hiring trends from LinkedIn, analysis of Microsoft 365 productivity signals and research with Fortune 500 customers, and covers how AI is reshaping work and the job market.

Workers are taking AI matters into their hands with 78 per cent of users bringing their own tools to work rather than waiting for their companies to plan and implement AI strategies. With this, Microsoft and LinkedIn have identified four types of AI users: sceptics who rarely use AI, novices who use it a few times a month, explorers who use it once a week and power users who use it several times per week and are saving themselves more than 30 minutes per day.

“AI is redefining work, and it’s clear we need new playbooks,” said Ryan Roslansky, CEO of LinkedIn. “It’s the leaders who build for agility instead of stability and invest in skill building internally that will give their organisations a competitive advantage and create more efficient, engaged and equitable teams.”

The increased use of AI in the workplace has led to new hiring trends. The report says there are now 142 times as many LinkedIn members adding AI skills to their profiles and a 160 per cent increase in nontechnical professionals using LinkedIn learning course to improve their AI skills.

Following these findings, Microsoft and LinkedIn have updated their offerings. New capabilities in Copilot for Microsoft aim to help people get started with AI including a new auto-complete feature to help complete prompts, a rewrite feature to turn a basic prompt into an in-depth one and a new chat interface called Catch Up. LinkedIn has made 50 of its learning courses free for LinkedIn Premium subscribers to enable users to improve their AI skills.

“AI is democratising expertise across the workforce,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “Our latest research highlights the opportunity for every organisation to apply this technology to drive better decision-making, collaboration and ultimately business outcomes.”