New Survey Says 67% Of Jobs Use AI, But Do Leaders Understand Its Limits?

Forbes

16-05-2025

In a survey of 1,000 knowledge workers, 67% of respondents said that their companies use AI, with 56% of companies encouraging AI usage. Owl Labs created the survey, and they found that Gen Z employees are more likely to report being 'heavily reliant' on AI, with 70% of the youngest generation leaning in on the tech for a multitude of tasks. That lines up with the observations of OpenAI CEO, Sam Altman, who recently shared that Gen Z workers view ChatGPT as a 'life adviser". Embracing technology is a good idea, but is Gen Z sqeezing LLMs too tightly? What do these current and future workforce leaders need to know, about what AI can (and can't) do?
'Older people,' Altman told an audience at Sequoia Capital's AI Ascent Event, 'use ChatGPT as a Google replacement. People in college use it as an operating system.' Tech Crunch reports that younger adults have fairly complex prompts memorized, which also means saved in the notes on their phone, and they rapidly and frequently pepper the program with problems and queries. Altman goes on to say that, "they [Gen Z and Gen Alpha]
AI expert Amanda Caswell, a writer for Tom's Guide, says, 'Personally, I've used ChatGPT to tackle everything from project summaries to panic attacks, and have found it to be a great sounding board when facing tough choices. While it's no substitute for human guidance or a therapist, ChatGPT can be a great assistant in a pinch.'
There's definitely an upside to having a second opinion on various aspects of your life and work - especially when that perspective has access to trillions of data points, the works of Freud, Jung, and James, as well as most of recorded history. But there are risks that can come with using AI, and leaning in too heavily on the platform. Experts say that it's important to be careful how much you share with AI - and how you use the tool at work. Your AI girlfriend may disagree, but how you embrace AI is where the conversation really begins. The rewards are many, but so are the risks - and using LLMs wisely is good counsel for every generation.
What to Watch Out For With AI: Experts Weigh In
'AI has no world model,' according to process scientist, Sam Drauschak. Questions that require real-world context can be a challenge for ChatGPT and other AI platforms. 'When you ask it to read this picture of a clock, it's strictly pattern prediction.'
Louis Rosenberg, Stanford professor and author of Our Next Reality, says that large language models really struggle with the simple task of reading a clock. While the platform has incredible advantages, sometimes the simple stuff is not so simple. Rosenberg says that sometimes AI is dyslexic. And, as someone who is dyslexic, Rosenberg's perspective gives an interesting read on why AI struggles to tell time. 'When I recall things in my mind (objects, environments, images, or text), I don't visualize them from a fixed first-person perspective. I think about them from all directions at once, more as a vague cloud of perspectives than a single, grounded orientation,' he explains - articulating the AI point of view. That's how large language models see things - and it often means that vector orientations (such as 'clockwise') are elusive to AI platforms. 'When you ask AI to interpret a tissue sample," he says, using an application from healthcare that is becoming more and more common, 'accuracy is not impacted by orientation.'
But innovative problem-solving and creative thinking is. While AI can generate novel combinations for text and produce creative works in art and music, its capacity for truly original thought and breakthrough innovation remains limited. But the speed of the platform can be astonishing. So, should we treat AI like just another voice in the room, or the voice of God? 'Think about it more like an intern,' Drauschak advises.
"AI doesn't do anything new. It synthesiz