AI has evolved immensely over the past year. The technology that disrupted the workplace in early 2023 has now become an integral part of daily workflows across organizations worldwide. Teams are leveraging AI more than ever to enhance productivity without increasing overhead costs.

But there are still some question marks that linger over AI and its impact on the workplace as it continues to grow. To get a better understanding of how AI is changing the way we work, we surveyed 3,000 managers to learn how they’re implementing the new technology in their business.

Summary of key findings

• 66% of managers said they are adopting AI tools in the workplace to either enhance worker productivity or improve efficiency, while 12% said they are using AI in hopes to downsize and save money on worker salaries.
• 41% of managers said they are hoping that they can replace employees with cheaper AI tools in 2024.
• 48% of managers said their businesses would benefit financially if they could replace a large number of employees with AI tools in 2024.
• 40% of managers said they believe multiple employees could be replaced by AI tools and the team would operate well without them.
• 66% of managers said their employees fear that AI tools will make them less valuable at work in 2024.
• 62% of managers said that their employees fear that AI tools will eventually cost them their jobs.
• 50% of managers said they are fearful that AI tools in the workplace will result in lower pay for workers in management positions.
• 64% of managers said AI’s output and productivity is equal to the level of experienced and expert managers and potentially better than any outputs delivered by human managers altogether.
• 45% of managers said they view AI as an opportunity to lower salaries of employees because less human-powered work is needed.
• 48% of managers said they believe AI tools are a threat to their pay and will fuel wage declines across the country in 2024.
• 64% of managers said they are using AI tools to help them manage employees on either a daily or weekly basis in 2024.

Is the rapid adoption of AI impacting job security and retention?

One of the biggest concerns associated with the 2023 AI boom was if it would replace the value of human work and inevitably lead to more layoffs. Last year a large majority of managers believed that replacing employees with AI tools would be a good thing for their company. But as professionals become more educated on the topic, and gain more experience with AI tools, has that mindset changed?

We asked 3,000 American managers why they’re adopting AI tools in the workplace in 2024 and 66% claimed they’re leveraging AI to either enhance worker productivity or improve efficiency.

AI is intended to improve jobs, not eliminate them, but a large percent of managers are still hoping that they can replace employees with smart tools. A year after artificial intelligence took the workplace by storm, 48% of those surveyed agreed that their businesses would benefit financially if they could replace a large number of employees with AI softwares.

While the idea of investing in artificial intelligence instead of human roles has decreased significantly since last year, 40% of managers still agree that multiple employees could be easily replaced by AI tools and the team would operate well without them.

As professionals become more comfortable with AI and its capabilities, they will likely start to view it as a collaborative partner versus a threat to their team.

The biggest concerns about AI in the workplace

Even with AI more accessible than ever, there is so much untapped territory. One of the biggest concerns among managers is fear of the unknown. Other worries stem from job security, employee adoption, resistance to AI, and pay cuts resulting from AI tools taking over a portion of work and responsibilities.

There’s no doubt that the implementation of AI tools has employees questioning their value to a company. In fact, the majority of managers believe that their employees fear that AI tools will make them less valuable at work in 2024. Similarly, 62% think that employees fear rapid adoption of the technology will eventually lead to them being fired.

When it comes to their own jobs, half of the managers surveyed are fearful that the use of AI tools in the workplace will result in lower pay for workers in management positions.

AI tools continue to have a positive impact on productivity

Despite the apprehension that comes with the new technology, there’s no doubt that it has a positive impact on productivity and efficiency. AI tools are meant to help make human’s jobs easier by acting as a collaborative partner, or assistant, to employees who are experts in their role. Of those surveyed, 64% of managers said AI’s output and productivity is equal to the level of experienced and expert managers, and potentially better than any outputs delivered by human managers altogether.

AI tools can help expedite the brainstorming process, and give employees a jumping off point so that they can create more content in less time. By automating the presentation design process Beautiful.ai allows non-designers to create professional-grade decks without relying on a creative or marketing team.

Leveraging AI tools can increase the speed to impact for teams. It gives employees the framework to create a first draft of a project in a fraction of the time it would take otherwise, which they can then edit and customize with their expertise to maintain brand integrity and quality. Of those who incorporated AI in the workplace, 50% view them as productivity enhancing tools and do not see any negatives associated with the tools. Furthermore, 60% foresee AI tools replacing elements of their job functions in a positive and productive way, rather than in a threatening way. While it’s true that AI can take on the burden of more tedious tasks, it still requires a decent amount of human oversight in its current state.

Will implementing AI software in the workplace pose a threat to pay-cuts?

The value in artificial intelligence is clear. It gives managers an opportunity to provide more resources to their employees without adding to the headcount of the department. But is that an opportunity to lower salaries of existing employees? Less than half of the managers surveyed said they view AI as an opportunity to lower the salaries of employees because less human-powered work is needed.

In the same vein, 48% of managers said they believe AI tools are a threat to their pay and will ultimately fuel wage declines across the country in 2024.

90% of managers have already introduced AI tools into their own workflows

AI is not one-size-fits-all, and its benefits are not limited to one specific industry. Nearly every manager is already leveraging AI tools for their own productivity, and 64% are utilizing the technology on a daily or weekly basis. Things like task and project management, content generation, and presentation design are obvious ways that managers can incorporate AI into their workflows— but the possibilities are endless and unique to each role, team, and company.

In 2024, 68% of managers are actively encouraging their employees to test and use AI tools if the tools will help them perform better at work.

What this means for the future of work

In this survey we learned that AI is enhancing employee performance and impacting productivity in a positive way. Managers are turning to AI softwares to help their teams be more successful in their roles. As the technology continues to evolve, many teams have started allocating more budget to AI programs and are encouraging their employees to test tools that will help them perform better.

As businesses continue to navigate massive layoffs in 2024, less than 50% of managers believe that their business could financially benefit from shifting their resources from employees to artificial intelligence. While there is still fear of the unknown, the number of managers looking to replace employees with AI has significantly reduced since 2023. Businesses can expect to see a lot more from AI in the future. It’s not a matter of if they should adopt the technology in the workplace, but when.

All data found within this report is derived from a survey by Beautiful.ai conducted online via survey platform Pollfish from February 14-16, 2024. In total, 3,000 adult Americans in management positions were surveyed. The respondents were found via Pollfish’s organizational role and age filtering features. This survey was conducted over a three-day span, and all respondents were asked to answer all questions as truthfully as possible and to the best of their knowledge and abilities.