MANY Singaporean workers who use artificial intelligence (AI) in their work are passing the work off as their own, and some even admit to using platforms banned by their companies.

This is according to findings in an online survey of just over 1,000 Singaporean full-time office workers, released on Wednesday (Sep 20) morning. The survey, commissioned by global tech giant Salesforce and conducted by YouGov, polled respondents between late July and early August about their use of generative AI, their views on its usefulness and importance to their work and career, and also what they understand about using it ethically and safely.

The ethics is tricky

The survey found that 40 per cent of its respondents use generative AI at work. Of this group, more than three-quarters (76 per cent) say they have used it to complete a work task and presented it as their own work, while more than half (53 per cent) admit to having done this multiple times.

Almost half of the respondents’ generative AI users (48 per cent) in Singaporean workplaces also admit to using a generative AI platform that is banned by their employers.

Accordingly, the survey found that its respondents had limited understanding of practices that promoted ethics and safety in the use of generative AI, with less than 37 per cent able to identify them as:

• Only using tools that have been validated for accuracy,

• Only using company-verified tools and programs, and

• Fact-checking generative AI outputs before using them.

It also noted that only 10 per cent of respondents were able to successfully pick out all the actions associated with using AI ethically and safely, including the aforementioned three factors for ethical use, and the following three for safe usage:

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• Only using company-approved tools and programs,

• Never using confidential company data in prompts for generative tools, and

• Never using personally identifiable customer data in prompts.

That being said, more respondents (between 45 per cent and 51 per cent) were able to identify these safety measures than the ethical actions (35 per cent to 37 per cent of respondents) involved in AI use.

A pressing need for Singapore companies to educate workers on effective and safe use of AI

Almost 80 per cent of respondents in the survey also said their companies do not have clearly defined policies on how generative AI can be used for work. A further 72 per cent said their companies did not define a list of programs or tools that were whitelisted for use at work.

The survey also found that 63 per cent of its respondents have not received training in using generative AI ethically or safely from their employers. The same proportion of respondents are concerned about falling behind on the use of generative AI at work.

A LinkedIn survey conducted by Censuswide threw up similar findings, reporting that 48 per cent of its respondents are worried they cannot keep up with developments in AI. Another 48 per cent believe their colleagues are better-versed in AI than they are, and 63 per cent of its respondents said they want to learn more about AI, even if they do not know where to start.

This research was conducted over a week in end-August among just over 2,000 professionals in Singapore aged 16 and up.

Salesforce’s survey found that almost a third (32 per cent) of its respondents are prepared to change jobs if training on using generative AI at work is not provided.

Meanwhile, two-thirds (67 per cent) of Salesforce’s respondents indicate that companies which invest and are advanced in incorporating generative AI policies and practices at work are more attractive places to work for. Almost a third (31 per cent) of Singaporean workers polled also say they would consider leaving their employers if the use of generative AI workflows was not made a priority.

Commenting on the findings, Salesforce Asean’s senior vice-president and general manager Sujith Abraham said there is a definite demand among workers here to use generative AI at work, and businesses should respond accordingly to this desire.

“Rather than dismiss this and the potential benefits of generative AI, businesses should employ a strategy that’s grounded in trust to safeguard against the risks that come with any new technology.

“This starts with using trusted and secure platforms and applications, having clear guidelines and policies in place for use, and complementing this with training for workers to ethically and safely use the technology.”