Ready Or Not, AI Is Here To Assist You

You can’t deny that the recent buzz around AI and Generative AI (GAI) has grown exponentially

- VIJAY ANAND

Be it companies launching new services (such as Shutterstock’s AI image generation platform) using prompts (just like ChatGPT), or working on similar services but tailored with in-house domainspecific data (such as utilising NVIDIA AI Foundations) or about the ethics and risk in embracing AI; there’s no shortage of the ups and downs of our newfangled obsession. To get a better perspective of why AI is in such a big spotlight these days, it’s essential to understand sentiments from workers. Just earlier this month, Microsoft released their comprehensive Work Trend Index (WTI) annual report after surveying 31,000 full-time or self-employed workers across 31 countries.

FOCUS TIME IS BECOMING A RARE COMMODITY

One of the most critical findings from Microsoft’s WTI report is that 2 in 3 respondents mentioned they grapple with time to do their job. And the key takeaway is that 68% said they don’t have enough uninterrupted focus time during the workday. In Singapore, this figure shoots up to 82%.

Apart from increased social media distraction, the pandemic has skyrocketed the use of communication tools such as group chats and virtual meetings to get across messages instantly, clarifications and ideas sooner. This robs us of our work and creativity time with more interruptions. Microsoft’s own WTI report cites 57% of their surveyed users spend time on communications (catchups, emails, Teams Meeting, Teams Chat, etc.). In comparison, only 43% of their time goes towards creating content (or work) using Office applications like OneNote, Excel, Word, etc.