MS Announces 'Work Trend Index 2023'
"Increase in AI Collaboration... Need to Enhance AI Capabilities"
More than half of South Korean workers expressed concerns about job security due to artificial intelligence (AI), yet they also indicated they would entrust AI with their tasks. As collaboration between humans and AI increases, it is expected that work methods will change and productivity will improve.
On the 10th, Microsoft Korea held a press briefing at the MS Korea office and announced the 'Work Trend Index 2023.' The Work Trend Index was based on a survey of 31,000 people across 31 countries, including South Korea, as well as data from Microsoft's work tool, MS365.
The report shows that 62% of South Korean workers feel they lack sufficient time to complete their tasks. This is because they spend a significant amount of time on information searching and communication. Similar results appeared in MS365 app usage patterns. Users spent a larger portion of their time on communication tasks (57%) than on creative tasks (43%). They spent 8.8 hours per week on emails and 7.5 hours per week in meetings. This means they devoted more than two full workdays per week solely to communication.
The report forecasts an increase in collaboration between AI and workers. Seventy-four percent of South Korean respondents said they would use AI to reduce their workload. Many answered that they would use AI not only for data analysis and administrative tasks but also for creative work. However, more than half of the workers (57%) expressed concerns about job security due to AI advancements.
As collaboration with AI increases, there were also calls for workers to develop AI capabilities. Eighty-two percent of South Korean leaders responded that employees they hire must possess new skills suited for the AI era. This includes new skills such as prompt engineering, which involves inputting commands to enable AI to provide appropriate answers to specific problems. In fact, in March, LinkedIn job postings mentioning GPT in the United States increased by 79% compared to the same period last year.
Oh Seong-mi, Head of Modern Work Business at Microsoft Korea, said, "While productivity has improved digitally, the amount of work done just for the sake of work is also increasing amid information overload," adding, "Applying AI to such tasks will help generate innovative ideas."
On this day, Microsoft also unveiled new features applied to MS365 'Copilot.' Copilot means co-pilot. It signifies a kind of AI assistant that helps the human pilot, the main operator, with tasks. It utilizes GPT-4, a large-scale AI recently released by the U.S. AI startup OpenAI.
PowerPoint incorporated OpenAI's image generation AI 'DALL·E.' This feature creates images upon text requests. Copilot functions were also added and expanded to Outlook (email), OneNote (notes), Loop (collaboration tool), and Viva (employee experience platform). Microsoft currently provides MS365 Copilot only to 600 selected client companies. After a public preview, it plans to officially launch it. The release schedule for South Korea is undecided.
Lee Ji-eun, CEO of Microsoft Korea, emphasized, "AI is playing the role of a co-pilot assisting with work," adding, "It will bring new ways of working, support individuals' creative tasks, and promote organizational success."
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