67% of UK and Ireland Workers Trust an Autonomous AI Future, but Humans Critical to Getting There

Editor’s note: Visualisations included in this article are set to global research responses by default. UK and Ireland responses are available via filter.

Today’s UK and Ireland (UKI) workers already trust AI to do almost half of their work tasks, according to new Salesforce research. While workers feel most comfortable when AI and humans work together, they are also beginning to trust AI to complete time-saving tasks autonomously, like writing code, uncovering data insights, and drafting written communications. 

Workers aren’t ready to trust everything to AI just yet. The research shows that workers prefer tasks like onboarding, training, and keeping data safe to be overseen by humans. But this may not be for long. The data also suggests that investing in knowledge and education builds trust in an autonomous AI future. 

Why it matters: As technology advances, people are getting a glimpse into a future in which AI can operate entirely on its own. The Salesforce research, which surveyed 1,356 people across the UK and Ireland, revealed that workers are excited about an AI-powered future. They also stressed the importance of a human touch as they build trust, knowledge, and experience with AI tools. Responses formed part of a survey of nearly 6,000 respondents around the world.

The research found:

UK and Ireland workers, especially leaders, are offloading tasks to AI and beginning to trust an autonomous future

• Workers today trust AI to do roughly 29% of their work tasks, indicating a shift among workers to offloading tasks to AI.

Leaders are more trustworthy of AI than their employees — senior managers and directors trust AI to do 78% of their work, while rank-and-file workers trust AI to do 67%. 

• 67% of UKI workers will eventually trust AI to operate autonomously. This number includes:
  • 7% of workers who trust AI to operate autonomously today.
  • 14% of workers who will trust AI to operate autonomously in less than three years.
  • 46% of  workers who will trust AI to operate autonomously in three or more years.

While UKI workers prefer AI-human collaboration, they’re starting to trust AI for certain tasks

• Today, UKI workers trust humans and AI to do most tasks together. 
  • 68% trust humans and AI to uncover data insights together. 
  • 66% trust humans and AI to write code together. 
  • 59% trust them to develop internal and external communications together.
• When asked if these workers trusted AI to do any of these same tasks autonomously, the answer, for a small group, was some. Tasks they felt comfortable with offloading to autonomous AI included:
  • 12% trust AI to write code autonomously.
  • 12% trust AI to uncover data insights on its own.
  • 9% trust AI to develop internal and external communications without a human.
  • 12% trust autonomous AI to act as their personal assistant.
• Other tasks, according to respondents, require having a human involved right now. UKI workers are most likely to trust humans alone to do the following: 
  • 52% trust humans alone to be inclusive. 
  • 52% trust humans alone to onboard and train employees.
  • 41% trust humans alone to keep data safe.

Autonomous AI is on the horizon, but human enablement and involvement are needed to get there

• Human involvement is needed to build trust in AI.
  • 67% of UKI workers say more human involvement would build their trust in AI. 
• Concerns about AI may come from a lack of understanding. Almost half of UKI workers say they do not know how AI is implemented (48%) or governed (50%) in their workplace.
• According to the global data, workers who are knowledgeable about how AI is implemented and governed in their workplace are nearly 5x more likely to say they will trust AI to operate autonomously within the next two years than those who are not knowledgeable.

• Training may be another key to trusted autonomy:
  • 62% of UKI workers say more skill-building and training opportunities would build their trust in AI.

Salesforce perspective: “Workers are excited about an AI-powered future and the research shows us that human engagement can help us get there. By empowering humans at the helm of today’s AI systems, we can build trust and drive adoption – enabling workers to unlock all that AI has to offer.” – Paula Goldman, Chief Ethical and Humane Use Officer

By empowering humans at the helm of today’s AI systems, we can build trust and drive adoption – enabling workers to unlock all that AI has to offer.

Paula Goldman, Chief Ethical and Humane Use Officer

Go deeper:

• See how Salesforce builds trust into its AI products
• Read a byline from Paula Goldman about why today’s AI needs a human at the helm
• See what the team at Salesforce Futures has to say about AI Agents 
• Discover why the C-suite believes trusted AI drives revenue

Methodology: Salesforce conducted a double-anonymous survey in partnership with YouGov from March 20 to April 3, 2024. It included nearly 6,000 full-time knowledge workers representing companies of a variety of sizes and sectors in nine countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, France, Germany, India, Singapore, and Switzerland. The survey took place online. 1,103 respondents were from the UK, and 253 from Ireland.