Your boss might be bluffing about how much AI knowledge they really have Craig Hale | usagoldmines.com

• Even bosses are lying about how much they know about AI, study finds
• Many leaders are stressed about AI’s impact on their roles
• Emergn calls for more relevant, human-centric training

As many as one in four (23%) UK senior leaders could be bluffing about how much AI knowledge they actually have, new Emergn research has claimed.

The study implies the leaders could be embarrassed or uncomfortable with admitting gaps, given that 38% now believe their career prospects could suffer unless they significantly improve their AI skills over the next year.

But despite lying themselves, top-down pressure actually sees nearly half (43%) valuing AI skills more highly than formal qualifications.

Senior leaders could be lying about their AI skills

Though the report doesn’t go into detailed why they might be lying, one of the potential factors implied by underlying data is fear or uncertainty. One in five (22%) feel anxious or lose sleep because off how quickly AI is changing their industry, with an equal number of leaders also feeling out of their depth because of AI’s impact on their role.

“It is hard to admit you do not understand something when you are supposed to be the person with the answers,” CEO Alex Adamopoulos explained.

But with senior leaders typically sitting toward the top of an organization, ownership of the problem is less clear. While only 43% say they’ve received substantial AI training over the past 12 months, the jury’s still out on whose responsibility this is, and whether it should lie with IT teams.

Emergn argues that training should focus on helping employees actually solve the problems they encounter every day at work, but the company also stresses that artificial intelligence is a new technology for us all and leaders as much as regular workers should be prepared to learn openly and acknowledge gaps in their knowledge.

“People need to see a future for themselves as the work changes,” Adamopoulos added.