73% of workplaces in Korea use AI to boost productivity, Microsoft says

Cho Won-woo, CEO of Microsoft Korea, speaks during a press conference at its headquarters in Seoul, Tuesday. Courtesy of Microsoft Korea

The use of AI at workplaces is becoming increasingly common in Korea, with three out of four workers using AI for work and managers recognizing the introduction of AI as essential for maintaining competitiveness, Microsoft Korea said Tuesday.

The tech giant released its annual Work Trend Index 2024 survey, co-surveyed with LinkedIn, to see how organizations are making the transition to AI.

The company said the survey of 31,000 respondents from 31 countries, conducted between Feb. 15 and March 28, found a sharp increase in the application of AI at work and that companies prioritize AI capabilities when hiring.

"With the advent of generative AI, the way technology and humans interact has started to fundamentally change for the first time since smartphones," Microsoft Korea CEO Cho Won-woo said during a press conference in Seoul. "AI will provide great opportunities for leaders who want to hire the right talent and employees who want to change careers."

75 percent of workers worldwide and 73 percent of workers in Korea are using AI at work, the survey said.

The proportion of organizational leaders who perceive the introduction of AI as essential for maintaining competitiveness reached 79 percent worldwide and 80 percent in Korea.

What it calls "power users," those who use AI frequently, answered that more than 90 percent manage their workload easily with AI.

Specifically, 85 percent — 83 percent in Korea — start their day with AI and 85 percent, or 81 percent in Korea, use AI to prepare for the next day's work.

The survey also showed that most companies are struggling to secure AI talent, and this issue is particularly intensifying in cybersecurity, engineering and creative design jobs.

AI capabilities are prioritized in the hiring process with 71 percent of leaders saying that they would rather hire a less experienced candidate with AI skills than a more experienced candidate without AI skills.

Leaders here also put AI capabilities as their priority when hiring, standing at 77 percent.

Moreover, 66 percent of all leaders, 70 percent in Korea, said they would not hire applicants who do not possess AI knowledge.

Microsoft report predicts that this year will be the year when AI becomes a reality in the workplace. Accordingly, it suggested that organizations should use AI to accelerate growth, manage costs and provide greater value to customers.

The tech giant also announced updated features to its AI assistant MS 365 Copilot.

The company showcased the newly introduced auto-complete feature, saying users can receive useful suggestions based on the prompt text they entered. Also, the rewriting feature transforms prompts in more detail based on meetings, documents and emails. The new chatting interface displays important documents and other related information based on the user's recent work, the company said.