AI in the workplace: New study shows opportunities and risks for employees!

AI in the workplace: New study shows opportunities and risks for employees!

A current study on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace in Germany shows significant developments and challenges. The second Konstanz AI Study 2025, carried out by the University of Konstanz, has shown that the proportion of employees using AI has increased by 11 percentage points and is now 35 percent. Applications for automated text generation, such as ChatGPT, are particularly popular. Despite the increasing use, there are uncertainties: a third of employees cannot estimate how AI will affect their work.

The study also illustrates the perception of risks. 46 percent of those surveyed see serious risks for the entire labor market from automation. Nevertheless, only 20 percent fear personal job loss. In knowledge-intensive professions such as IT, administration and research, AI use is already at 45 percent, while in production-related and craft professions only 21 percent of employees benefit from AI. This represents an increase of 15 percentage points and 4 percentage points respectively, highlighting the growing gap between different professional fields.

Growing digital divide

The development in question sheds light on the vulnerability to a digital divide in the labor market. According to the study, employees with a degree use AI three times as often as people with a lower level of education. This indicates a growing gap that could drift further apart without targeted support from politics and business. Small companies in particular hardly invest in further training in dealing with AI - only 8 percent of these companies offer corresponding offers. In contrast, a third of larger companies provide AI training to their employees.

Another key result of the Konstanz AI study is the increasing willingness among the workforce to receive further training in using AI. There is increasing interest, especially among more highly educated employees. This trend could help reduce the existing discrepancies and promote a more even distribution of AI usage. However, there is a risk that social and economic disparities will continue to increase unless targeted countermeasures are taken. Companies face challenges such as high costs, a lack of staff and low productivity.

General perception and support from AI

According to the DiWaBe 2.0 survey, around 60 percent of employees use AI technologies in the workplace. Many of these users see AI as a helpful and supportive work tool. However, it turns out that the formal adoption of AI in companies is often slow, leading to widespread informal use. The level of AI usage is heavily influenced by factors such as education, age and job segment. Employees without a qualification use AI only sporadically, while almost 80 percent of highly qualified people use AI.

In summary, it shows that the potential of AI in the work environment is enormous. But urgent political and operational efforts are needed to prevent persistent inequality and enable all workers to reap the benefits of technology.

The extensive data collection of the Konstanz AI study also takes into account previous surveys and offers a deep insight into the development of AI use in Germany. The DFG Cluster of Excellence “The Politics of Inequality” funded the study, which has proven to be an important tool for analyzing social challenges in the digital age.

For more information on the digital divide and the challenges of integrating AI into the workplace, see the reports Haufe and BIBB.