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The failure of flexible working, how caffeine affects consumer behaviour, dismantling discrimination and the need for more top-down approaches to sustainability all feature in Ambition’s latest selection of news and research. Compiled by Tim Banerjee Dhoul , Ellen Buchan and Colette Doyle
A SLOW START TO THE AI REVOLUTION
SCHOOL: Leeds University Business School COUNTRY: UK
organisations with fewer than 50 employees. Industry also made an impact – employers in public administration and information and communication were more likely to invest in digital technologies compared to those in accommodation, food service activities and education. Lead researcher for the study and pro-dean for research and innovation at Leeds University Business School Mark Stuart said: “A mix of hope, speculation and hype is fuelling a runaway narrative that the adoption of new AI-enabled digital technologies will rapidly transform the UK’s labour market, boosting productivity and growth. These hopes are often accompanied by fears about the consequences for jobs and even of existential risk. “However, our findings suggest there is a need to focus on a different policy challenge. The workplace AI revolution is not happening quite yet. Policymakers will need to address both low employer investment in digital technologies and low investment in digital skills if the UK economy is to realise the potential benefits of digital transformation.” The survey was conducted by University of Leeds academics with colleagues at the Universities of Sussex and Cambridge. EB
Despite widespread panic over artificial intelligence (AI) and robots taking over our jobs, the digital revolution is happening slower than expected, new research led by Leeds University Business School shows. Based on a survey carried out between November 2021 and June 2022, the study found only 36 per cent of UK employers had invested in AI-enabled technologies such as industrial robots, chatbots, smart assistants and cloud computing in the previous year. This trend looks set to continue – less than 10 per cent of employers who hadn’t already invested in AI‑enabled technologies were planning to do so in the next two years. There was also a lack of employer commitment to training employees, with 60 per cent of respondents conceding that they had not invested in any formal technology training for their employees in the past year. Not only did organisations show an aversion to tech training for staff, but they also struggled to find related skills among external candidates – 75 per cent were finding it difficult to recruit staff with the right skills. One characteristic impacting on organisations’ tech readiness is size. Half of firms with more than 100 employees were digital adopters, compared to around one in three among
8 | Ambition | SEPTEMBER 2023
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