Posted by Mumbai: Artificial intelligence (AI) has entered into almost all organisational functions today, but then the question remains – is AI significantly overhyped? Yes is the answer. According to a new research study, 62% respondent believe AI has been significantly overhyped and, feel they were overpromised on potential of AI.
The findings of The Pulse of Work in 2025: Trends, Truths, and the Practicality of AI survey report released by cloud communications and IT provider, GoTo in partnership with research firm Workplace Intelligence surveyed 2,500 global employees and IT leaders to understand their AI usage and sentiment.
Is AI significantly overhyped?
Despite widespread anticipation about AI’s positive impact on workforce productivity, the report found that most employees felt, they were overpromised on AI’s potential, with 62% saying, AI has been significantly overhyped.
Probably, this could be, because employees aren’t making the most of what these AI tools have to offer. A majority (86%) of respondents admitted that they aren’t using AI tools to its full potential, while 82% weren’t very familiar with how AI can be used practically in their day-to-day work, the report stated.
The underutilisation of AI tools is also related to employees’ trust on those tools. 86% of employees weren’t confident in the accuracy and reliability of AI tools, while 76% employes pointed, tools often provide outputs that need to be refined or revised by users, as per the report.
However, these employees estimated of spending 2.6 hours a day — or 13 hours per week — on tasks that AI could handle for them, the report revealed.
“Employees are already using AI and are seeing clear productivity gains, yet despite these benefits, our latest research shows people still view AI as overhyped,” said Rich Veldran, CEO of GoTo.
“While many recognise its value, they don’t yet see it as the revolutionary change they were promised. This gap likely exists because many workers admit they aren’t realising AI’s full potential or don’t know how to apply it in practical ways,” added Veldran.
Further, “the solution is clear: companies must go beyond just providing access to AI by ensuring employees have both the right tools and the right education. By equipping teams with effective training and clear guidelines, organisations can empower their workforce to unlock the true, transformational impact of AI,” recommended Veldran.
AI in large companies vs small companies
Large companies and organisations are investing and leveraging AI tools in a big, with nearly 80% of workers are using AI. However, in case of small companies, they lag behind in AI adoption. In small companies with 50 workers or less, just 59% of workers use AI and 46% say they don’t know how to use AI to save time or improve their work, as per the report findings.
While the AI usage varies among employees of large to small size companies, the report also highlighted that the kind of tasks AI tools are handling for these employees.
Tasks
About 54% of employees admitted that they’ve used AI tools for sensitive tasks or high-stakes decision-making such as tasks requiring emotional intelligence (29%), tasks impacting safety (25%), and ethical or sensitive personnel actions (16%) — despite knowing they shouldn’t.
Probably, these workers used AI tools for those tasks as well, which weren’t meant for AI usage. An alarming 77% of these workers, didn’t regret using AI for these tasks, as per the report findings.
Older workers, young workers and AI
“Contrary to what you might think, it’s not just older workers who are struggling to realise the benefits of AI tools,” said Dan Schawbel, Managing Partner, Workplace Intelligence. “Younger workers also admit they’re not using these tools to their full potential.”
The report found that 74% of Gen Z employees aren’t very familiar with how to use AI practically in their day-to-day work. “This highlights the importance of equipping all generations with the tools and education to use AI safely and effectively,” concluded Schawbel.