Business says AI doesn’t work, uses it anyway

Two recent studies assess the state of enterprise AI. In technical terms, it’s this: What are we even doing here?

One study is by the National Bureau of Economic Research. It surveyed 6,000 senior business executives to see how AI has impacted jobs and productivity over the past three years.

Here’s what it found.

*69% of firms actively use AI.
*2/3 of executives regularly use AI but for only 1.5 hours a week on average, with 1/4 reporting no AI use at all.
*9 in 10 report no impact on employment or productivity.

The other study is by enterprise AI firm Writer and research firm Workplace Intelligence.

Here’s what it found.

*75% of executives admit their AI strategy is “more for show” than a meaningful guide.
*60% of executives will fire employees who don’t use AI and 77% will block promotions.

So: most companies use AI but 90% say it doesn’t boost productivity and 3/4 say it’s just performative. And yet: the majority of executives will fire workers who don’t use AI.

This seems to make no sense--until you come to this: 2/3 of CEOs fear losing their job if they don’t lead an AI transition.

Basically, CEOs are saying, “I know AI doesn’t work so well but I’m afraid I’ll get fired if I don’t deploy it so I’m deploying it.” They’re implementing AI not to make your job easier but to save their own.

Meanwhile, 29% of employees admit to “actively undermining” or “sabotaging” their company’s AI strategy, with that number rising to 44% among Gen Z workers.

Over half of executives say AI is “tearing their company apart.”