One in five younger workers admits they exaggerate their artificial intelligence abilities in job interviews as pressure mounts on employees to master the technology.
More workers also feel overwhelmed by how quickly they are expected to deploy AI to tackle tasks, according to research, and almost half say learning to use the technology feels as onerous as having “a second job”.
Social network LinkedIn released the findings from a worldwide study on Tuesday, which also found many employees were seeking to educate themselves on AI using free resources.
The results come days after the Australian Bureau of Statistics named the technology as the fastest-growing area for research and development, and after AI and its regulation became a major discussion point at the government’s economic reform roundtable last week.
The LinkedIn research, conducted by Censuswide, surveyed more than 19,000 employees across 14 countries, including Australia, the UK and the US.
Almost half the workers surveyed (46 per cent) said learning about AI was such a burden it felt like taking on a second job, and one in three (37 per cent) felt overwhelmed by AI expectations from employers.
Many respondents felt embarrassed about how little they knew about AI (28 per cent), the survey found, and a large number of generation Z and millennial workers admitted to exaggerating their AI skills in job interviews (22 per cent).
AI would not be the first technology to transform the job market, LinkedIn ANZ managing director Matt Tindale said, but it had made a fast and substantial impact on both businesses and employees.
“What the research is showing is this sense of being overwhelmed,” he told AAP.
“There is expectation from hiring managers around AI literacy and this all combines to give many professionals and jobseekers a sense of being overwhelmed by how much they have to learn and new technologies they have to be proficient in.”
The study also found almost two in three participants (63 per cent) felt workers who resisted learning about AI would fall behind, and more than half of Australian workers were training themselves in the technology using free resources.
The results showed many Aussies were eager to adapt to a changing work environment, Mr Tindale said, but others may need more guidance and reassurance that the technology does not require advanced computer skills.
“A lot of people have a misunderstanding about what (AI) means,” he said.
“Often people think it’s a highly technical, cumbersome thing to learn but it’s mainly just … how to use the tools to be more productive and successful, whether it’s Copilot or it’s ChatGPT.”
A recent Tech Council study found most Australian office workers were already using AI, and most expected the technology to transform their jobs by 2030 but not to replace them.
