HOBOKEN,
N.J., May 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- New research
from Pearson (FTSE: PSON.L), the world's leading learning
company, shows the massive potential of Generative AI to boost
workplace productivity by helping US workers to save 78 million
hours a week on the routine and repetitive tasks that often fill
their day and lead to burnout.
The latest installment of Pearson's Skills Outlook series,
'Reclaim the Clock: How Generative AI Can Power People at Work' -
looks ahead to 2026 and identifies the top 10 job tasks with
the most time saved by using the technology, in five countries
(Australia, Brazil, India, UK and US).
Pearson's workforce planning platform, powered by generative AI,
finds that the work Gen AI can most effectively support is focused
on tasks related to maintaining records, data collection, or
researching and compiling information for others.
The ten work tasks with most hours saved by Gen AI by 2026 in
the US are:
- Maintain health or medical records (3,568,000 hrs per
week)
- Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise (3,132,000
hrs)
- Develop educational programs, plans or procedures (2,946,000
hrs)
- Maintain operational records (2,032,000 hrs)
- Present research or technical information (1,782,000 hrs)
- Develop safety standards, policies, or procedures (1,696,000
hrs)
- Assess student capabilities, needs, or performance (1,663,000
hrs)
- Prepare legal or regulatory documents (1,638,000 hrs)
- Collect data about consumer needs or opinions (1,607,000
hrs)
- Prepare informational or instructional materials (1,585,000
hrs)
By augmenting basic tasks with generative AI, companies and
their workers can reallocate time to focus on the high value work
that humans do best: strategic thinking, collaboration, caring for
others, decision making, innovation, problem solving, empathy,
leadership.
At an individual level, even small amounts of time saved with
generative AI can help people feel more in control of their job and
achieve a better work life balance.
Oliver Latham, VP of Strategy
and Growth for Pearson Workforce Skills, said:
"In nearly every workplace, people spend their day on common,
time-consuming tasks that eat away at productivity or their
work-life balance. If those tasks could be augmented with
generative AI, employers and their workers could reallocate time to
the things that needs a more human touch and mean more to their
customers. Employers should consider how to incorporate this new
technology into their teams, and redesign roles to free people up
to focus on more valuable, human tasks. They should also consider
the need for training and support for employees, so they can use it
effectively and responsibly."
At Pearson we believe that the future of work can be one where
people and Gen AI can collaborate by using AI as a tool to enhance
human potential. For this study, Pearson used census and other
workforce datasets to create a single view of the current workforce
in the US, UK, Australia,
India and Brazil. Using Pearson's proprietary
occupations ontology of 5,600 jobs and 76,000 tasks, each job can
be viewed as a collection of tasks. This allows our machine
learning algorithms to calculate future technology impact at a task
level.
Pearson looked at hours currently spent, countrywide, in the US
on work tasks each week, and then calculated what this would be in
three years' time as Gen AI technology is adopted into the
workplace. We then identified the tasks which would have the
greatest hours reduced by the technology (specifically LLM Chatbots
and AI Text-to-Visual Media Generators).
About Pearson
At Pearson, our purpose is simple: to
add life to a lifetime of learning. We believe that every learning
opportunity is a chance for a personal breakthrough. That's why our
c. 18,000 Pearson employees are committed to creating vibrant and
enriching learning experiences designed for real-life impact. We
are the world's leading learning company, serving customers in
nearly 200 countries with digital content, assessments,
qualifications, and data. For us, learning isn't just what we do.
It's who we are. Visit us at pearsonplc.com.
Media contacts
Sara.Bartlett@Pearson.com
Sami.Miller@Pearson.com
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SOURCE Pearson