Nearly 1 In 3 Gen Z Workers Secretly Use AI On The Job, Imperial Survey Finds

Nearly 1 in 3 Gen Z workers in the UK use AI on the job without their boss knowing, and 97% of all workers say their own skills are fine even though most see a big skills gap around them, a survey of 2,000 employees shows.

Key Takeaways

• 17% of UK workers use AI at work without their employer knowing, rising to 29% of Gen Z
• 97% are confident they have the skills their job needs for the next 12 months, but 59% see a significant skills gap in their industry
• 70% of regular AI users see that skills gap, against 36% of people who rarely use AI
• 85% want formal training in the next two years, and 71% would switch roles if retraining were paid for

The figures come from a report by Imperial Lifelong Learning, the adult education arm of Imperial College London, titled Everyone But Me.

Who Is Using AI In Secret

About one in six workers use AI tools such as ChatGPT, Copilot or Claude without telling their employer. Younger staff are far more likely to do it.

Share who use AI at work without their employer knowing

These secret users are among the keenest. 76% say they understand AI tools well, against 59% of other workers, and 44% think their employer is missing out by not pushing others to use AI the way they do. Only 9% would stay in their current job if offered paid retraining, against 28% of everyone else.

Others hold back. 26% say using AI at work feels dishonest, 20% avoid it because they do not trust the results, and 20% worry colleagues will think less of them for using it.

Also Read: ChatGPT Spreads To 165 Work Tasks Across 100 Countries

A Skills Gap Everyone Sees In Others

Almost everyone, 97%, is confident they have the skills their job needs over the next year, and 69% think their skills would land them an equal job if they lost theirs tomorrow. Yet 59% see a significant skills gap in their industry, rising to 75% among business owners and top executives.

65% say a lack of AI or other tech skills has already affected their own or their team's work in the past year, and 66% think the UK will become less competitive if the gap is not closed.

AI Use Depends On Your Job And Rank

Half of workers use AI regularly, but that ranges from 78% in technology and digital jobs to 41% in healthcare and life sciences. 76% of directors use custom AI agents at least weekly, against 29% of mid-level staff, and regular use falls from 55% of Millennials to 31% of Baby Boomers.

About The Survey

Censuswide surveyed 2,000 UK employees between Sept. 4 and 15 across healthcare and life sciences, technology and digital, financial services, energy and sustainability, and engineering, manufacturing and infrastructure, and ten senior leaders were interviewed. The report says the results describe workers in those five sectors, not the whole UK workforce. It was commissioned by Imperial Lifelong Learning, which sells courses for working adults, and PR firm Seven Consultancy helped develop it.

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Originally published on Fathom News.