AI’s generation gap

If you think AI is a young person’s game, well, you might be right.

AI usage in the workplace is highest among Gen Z: 82% of that generation uses it, a survey by the London School of Economics, sponsored by Protiviti, found. The likelihood that an employee will use AI at work drops by generation. Around three-quarters (73%) of millennials and 60% of Gen Xers use it. (Only 52% of baby boomers do, but only 6% of survey respondents were boomers.)

Across generations, 70% of employees are using AI at work, according to the survey, which polled 2,794 “professional employees” and 240 executives in 30 countries. Those who use AI apply it to 31% of their day-to-day tasks. They report that it saves them an average of 7.5 hours a week.

More than a third of employees are involved in “AI initiatives” at work. A generation gap exists here as well. Around half (47%) of Gen Zers take part in AI initiatives, versus around 30% of Gen X employees and boomers.

Training makes the difference. Only around a third of respondents to the London School of Economics survey said they’d gotten formal training on AI in the past year. That’s consistent with a spring 2025 survey by OwlLabs and Pulse, which found that just 38% of companies offered AI training, even though nearly 70% offered AI tools at work.

Without training (or encouragement from their CFO), though, employees might not start using AI tools on their own. The vast majority (93%) of those in the London School of Economics survey who were trained on AI said they used it, versus 57% of those who weren’t trained. Training may make the difference between having AI and using it to be more productive—even for staff old enough to remember when grunge was cool.