Using AI saves a full working day per week
Employees who use artificial intelligence (AI) are saving the equivalent of a full working day every week, according to new research from London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). The report, Bridging the Generational AI Gap: Unlocking Productivity for All Generations, comes at a time when many have been worried about when the huge investments in AI will prove profitable.
Worldwide spending on AI will reach close to $1.5 trillion in 2025 and $2 trillion next year, led in large part by AI being integrated into products such as smartphones and PCs as well as infrastructure, market research firm Gartner says in a recent forecast.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently said that “growth in the use of AI services has been astonishing” while others say business adoption of AI is slow.
The LSE survey comprises nearly 3 000 workers and 240 executives globally and shows that professionals using AI save an average of 7.5 hours per week – worth around £14,000 per employee per year in productivity gains or the equivalent of one workday.
“However, despite this significant potential, most employees (68%) have received no AI training in the past 12 months, leaving substantial efficiency gains unrealised.”
“For business leaders, the priority is clear: closing the AI training gap is one of the fastest ways to unlock measurable returns”, says Dr Grace Lordan, founding director of The Inclusion Initiative at LSE.
“Equipping employees with the right skills doesn’t just improve individual productivity – it drives sharper decision-making, accelerates innovation and creates stronger overall performance. In an environment where every efficiency counts, organisations that act now will set themselves apart from those still waiting on the sidelines.”
LSE says that contrary to popular belief, AI adoption isn’t limited to younger generations. The research makes clear that training – not generation – is the decisive factor:
- 93% of employees who receive AI training use AI in their roles, versus just 57% without training.
- Those with training are 2x more productive, saving 11 hours per week compared with 5 hours for the untrained.
- A Gen X employee who has received AI skills training in the past 12 months is achieving greater productivity benefits from AI than a Gen Z employee who has not been trained.
The study also found that when it comes to delivering AI initiatives, generationally diverse teams are more productive: 77% of employees in multigenerational AI project teams reported that their team was productive, compared with 66% of employees in AI teams with low generational diversity.
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