CEOs are mandating that employees use AI. They're hardly using it themselves | Fortune

"Chief executives are relying on a combination of carrots and sticks to encourage employees to use artificial intelligence, a technology leaders expect to transform business, from the making of goods, to the delivery of services, to the number of humans they employ. But are they using it themselves? Not as much as you might expect."

"Nearly 70% of CEOs, CFOs and senior executives are using AI at work less than an hour a week-including 28% who never use it-according to a new survey of more than 6,000 senior executives across four countries (the U.S., the U.K., Germany, and Australia) co-authored by renowned Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom and 12 other scholars."

"The gap risks deepening the divide between workers and leaders over how-and how much-AI will boost productivity and alter future employment. On the carrot side, bosses are incentivizing workers to adopt and experiment with AI by handing out cash bonuses and awarding merch to those who comply."

Corporate leaders are implementing both incentive-based and punitive measures to drive employee AI adoption, including cash bonuses, merchandise rewards, usage tracking, and performance review integration. However, executives themselves demonstrate minimal AI engagement, with nearly 70% using the technology less than one hour per week. A survey of over 6,000 senior executives across the U.S., U.K., Germany, and Australia found 28% never use AI at all, while only 7% use it more than five hours weekly. In the U.S., executives average 1.7 hours of weekly AI use compared to employees' 1.8 hours. This disconnect between mandated employee adoption and limited executive usage risks widening the divide between workers and leadership regarding AI's productivity impact and employment implications.

Read at Fortune