Fear of ‘Cheating’ Drives Lack of AI Use in Businesses

People are deciding against using Artificial Intelligence (AI) because of concerns they will be accused of ‘cheating’ by employers, new research has revealed.

In the Lifeline IT ‘IT Trends Survey’, more than two-thirds of those questioned said they do not use AI applications in the workplace, with 27% saying it is because they worry it may be seen as dishonest.

The survey polled Lifeline IT clients to gain an understanding of their IT habits, as well as find out the technology issues people have difficulties with. Nearly a third said they struggled using video conferencing/messaging applications (such as Teams, Zoom) and 24% said they found creative tools challenging, with 56% saying they had received no training on these systems.

When it comes to daily IT issues, it is passwords that cause employees the most problems (26%), then internet troubles (25%). Surprisingly, people feel most secure working from home (47%), followed by their place of work (34%).

Following on from the research, Lifeline IT will be launching a series of ‘How to…’ videos and newsletters, giving simple tips and tools that will help overcome common IT difficulties.

Said Lifeline IT’s Daniel: “We had a good idea from our own client interactions what people struggle with and the research has confirmed this. Passwords and internet issues are common and it’s often simple things that will help solve problems. Our ‘How to…’ guides aim to demystify some of the tech jargon by offering quick and easy to understand advice that will help you, our clients, get the most out of your IT experience.”

Added Daniel: “What alarmed us was people thinking they are more secure working from home, where they often don’t have the same security systems in place as they do at work. We’re going to be covering this in the future as I think people will be quite shocked at how IT exposed they can be outside of the office environment.”

The research, which Lifeline IT carries out annually, also revealed:

• 70% said IT is very important to their business/daily work, with 29% saying it is quite important
• 97% said it is important that their IT provider understands their business/what their work involves
• 63% often spend personal time doing work, with 87% using their personal devices (phone, laptop etc) to do this.