‘Stay relevant’: research reveals who is embracing AI and who will be left behind

AI tools such as ChatGPT are revolutionising work and innovation but not everyone is sold on it. See who is falling behind.

Baby Boomers must embrace artificial intelligence or be left behind, as Gen Z workers adopt the technology 20 times faster than their older colleagues.

Despite predictions that AI-powered chat bot ChatGPT is set to revolutionise work and supercharge innovation, exclusive findings from Lonergan Research reveal only a quarter of Australian workers aged 60-plus are even aware the technology exists.

And only 1 per cent have used it in their jobs.

By contrast, more than half of under-25s are familiar with ChatGPT and 20 per cent have used it for work purposes.

About 14 per cent of Millennials (aged 25 to 39) and 7 per cent of Generation X (40-59) have also used ChatGPT in their job.

Workplace expert Michelle Gibbings recommends workers are at least aware of AI’s applications. Picture: Supplied

Workplace expert Michelle Gibbings said she was not surprised that younger people had been the early adopters but encouraged everyone to at least be aware of the AI.

“What employers look for are people who are willing to learn and have those adaptable skills,” she said.

“For you to stay relevant in today’s working world, you need to understand that technology is really important and to be familiar with it.

“You can make the decision you do not want to use (ChatGPT) but at least you have made that decision with knowledge and understanding as opposed to not giving it a go.”

Lonergan Research revealed ChatGPT – which accumulated 1 million users within a week of its launch late last year – was by far the most well-known AI tool among Australians.

More than two in five workers (42 per cent) surveyed in March were aware of ChatGPT, followed by AI text-to-image generators Dall-E 2 (6 per cent) and Midjourney (5 per cent).

An AI-generated image created in Midjourney. Picture: Melanie Burgess

Professionals were most likely to have used ChatGPT at work, at 15 per cent, with labourers and unskilled workers on the other end of the spectrum at 2 per cent.

Gen Z entrepreneur Taylor Reilly, 22, has been using ChatGPT – and the software behind it – to help run his influencer management business Reilly Talent.

“Working on TikTok, where I look after a lot of different creators and we work with a lot of different brands, brainstorming different content ideas is something we’ve completely outsourced now,” he said.

Reilly Talent chief executive Taylor Reilly (second from right), with creators Harrison Pawluk, Adam Milardovic, Lucas Ivkovic. Picture: Supplied

“A lot of my boys make public interview and sketch type content around Sydney and Melbourne (so) we’re always looking for fun, creative, public challenge ideas.

“Now, instead of just sitting around trying to brainstorm for a few hours, we just GPT it.

“We go ‘hey, give me 30 ideas that I can do in public that are fun and engaging’, then if (it gives) us bad ideas, we can go back to it and say ‘no, make them more creative, make them more exciting’.”

Mr Reilly, based in Brisbane, had also used ChatGPT to write and improve legal contracts for collaborating brands.

“It was pretty low level legal work, but I would have had to go and pay someone to go and do that,” he said.

His team had embraced the technology without him needing to direct anyone – even his “oldest guy”.

“The other night I was trying to explain ‘dude, you should be using this to do stuff’ but he’s a little bit older, he is 26,” Mr Reilly said.

“Even that four year age gap, he was a little bit behind on it, which I thought was funny.”

Originally published as ‘Stay relevant’: research reveals who is embracing AI and who will be left behind