AI is changing how people view creativity in the workplace. While some leaders have touted AI as improving the creative process at their companies, there are also broader concerns about outsourcing the creative process to the tech.
This week, an Adobe survey revealed that 90% of workers want to use creative AI tools at work, but only 9% actually report implementing any in their workflow. Adobe defined creative AI as tools that are applied to visual or imaginative tasks, like image and video generation, designing graphics, brainstorming ideas and creative writing.
The self-reported survey pulled from 1,002 full-time U.S. employees who use AI at work at least once a week, across industries like finance, healthcare, retail, education and more.
According to the survey results, there seems to be a strong interest among employees in creative AI tools, but daily use does not necessarily reflect that enthusiasm in real life. Instead, employees mainly use AI on technical tasks, like summarizing documents, analyzing data and researching topics.
Adobe also found that 72% of workers believe AI could potentially make them more creative at work. For those who already do use creative AI tools, 73% say it improved their ability to relay complex ideas.
Still, employees estimated they spend an average of 7.5 hours a week on tasks that could potentially be enhanced by creative AI tools. And another one in three workers say they would like to use AI for image and video generation, but don’t.
There could be a few reasons for the hold-up, according to those surveyed by Adobe.
Nearly half of those surveyed (47%) say they feel unsure about how creative AI can apply to their job. Some employees also reported a lack of training or resources and unclear company policies (29%), while others reported difficulty integrating AI into their workflows (27%) and the cost of AI tools (26%).
AI adoption also varies by industry. Those employed in the tech and innovation sector were most likely to say their company is ahead of the adoption curve, while those working in education reported feeling like the least likely to be ahead.
There are other recent studies that document how employees are using AI at work.
A recent Gallup poll found that 47% of U.S. employees say their organization has adopted AI tools to improve productivity, efficiency or quality—up from 41% in the last quarter. More than half of U.S. workers (52%) use AI in their role, with 30% using it a few times a week or more, and 15% using it daily. The most common AI uses are writing and editing (51%), search or research (49%) and general assistance or solving problems (39%).
The Gallup poll shows that just 17% of AI users reported using it for image, video or audio generation.
The biggest gap between employee enthusiasm and real-world execution may have a lot to do with the infrastructure around it. According to the Adobe survey, employees claimed a few action items could potentially help them increase their use of creative AI—like being offered examples of how it can be used in their roles, better integration, employer-provided training and more assurance about data privacy.
Still, companies that do embed AI tools in tasks like brainstorming ideas, creative writing or generating images will likely have to weigh any creativity gains with the risk of overreliance—and not replacing human critical thinking skills that drive innovation.
