Microsoft recently conducted a large-scale survey on the application of generative AI in workplace scenarios, involving over 6,000 employees from more than 60 companies. The study found that AI tools can improve office efficiency in several aspects:
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Employees using Copilot for Microsoft 365 read 11% fewer personal emails on average and spent 4% less time using email. Some companies saw a 20-25% reduction in email reading volume and time spent writing emails.
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In terms of documents, those using Copilot created and edited more documents than non-users, with an overall increase of 10%. Heavy users increased by 13%, with some companies seeing increases of 25-30%.
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In multilingual environments, participants using Copilot improved their ability to correctly answer English meeting-related questions by 16.4%, and were more than twice as likely to achieve a perfect score.
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29% of AI users could be classified as "advanced users," reporting time savings of over 30 minutes per day through AI use.
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Compared to traditional search, people were more likely to use AI-enhanced search for complex tasks. 72.9% of Copilot conversations were in the knowledge work domain, compared to only 37% for traditional search.
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The impact of AI tools varied by job role and function, with customer service and sales employees seeing the largest productivity gains, while legal professionals saw smaller improvements.
Overall, using generative AI in daily work can significantly increase productivity, but effects may vary depending on the environment and usage. Further research will explore how companies can best facilitate efficient AI utilization.