Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to drastically transform nearly every area of business. This is not new news. The integration of AI is no longer an option for businesses but a necessity. Some might find this daunting, but innovative companies and professionals have already been using AI to reshape work.
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Generative AI (gen AI) stands out for its ability to transform business communication by automating and enhancing manual and time-consuming communication tasks. Gen AI can help companies accelerate high-quality content production, gain new insights, scale personalized customer outreach, and enhance overall communication quality. The introduction of gen AI isn’t just a technological upgrade—it’s a fundamental shift in how employees communicate and how businesses operate.
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The benefits for both employees and the enterprise are significant. Knowledge workers using gen AI report increased productivity, reduced stress, and lighter workloads. Leaders tout similar benefits for their businesses, including saved costs, a faster pace of innovation, and increased quality of service. However, these benefits can only be realized if all employees are equipped to use the technology effectively. According to the 2024 State of Business Communication report, most workers (52%) say they don’t know how to use gen AI effectively. The learning curve to achieve enterprise-wide AI adoption might seem steep, but it is achievable.

AI literacy is perhaps the most important upskilling businesses need to do—and employees need to achieve—to reach enterprise-wide AI adoption. As LinkedIn’s VP Janine Chamberlin explains, “Ensuring employees are AI literate is crucial. The skills for jobs are changing faster than ever, driven by rapid developments in new technologies such as generative AI, and businesses cannot afford to be slow on upskilling.” AI literacy is a strategic imperative for business leaders who want to win in today’s competitive market.
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The future workplace will be one where every employee’s unique skill set is augmented by artificial intelligence. While some may fear or resist this new technology, the reality is that machines will not replace knowledge workers; instead, they will enhance, automate, and make our lives easier. This is only possible if every employee can proficiently use generative AI tools to capture their full potential.

Every employee in a company is likely in a different phase of gen AI literacy. Ensuring an equitable AI skillset across the workforce is crucial for continued AI adoption. Four key concepts help explain where people might be in their journey of AI literacy:

‍Avoidant: Actively choosing not to interact with AI tools due to resistance to change, lack of trust, ethical concerns, or perceived cost and complexity.
Familiar: Basic ability to interact with AI tools, being familiar with some AI technologies but not fully reaping the benefits of gen AI.

‍Literate: Deep understanding of gen AI technologies and the ability to use them effectively in daily workflows, leading to personal and business benefits.

‍Fluent: Advanced level where using gen AI technologies for even the most complex tasks becomes second nature.

According to the 2024 State of Business Communication report, only 53% of knowledge workers report using gen AI regularly at work. Of this group:

- 44% are considered AI literate, using gen AI for some or most tasks.
- 9% are considered fluent, using gen AI for all communication tasks.
- Among knowledge workers who don’t use AI regularly, 15% have experimented with it, while 32% avoid it altogether.

Regular AI usage is more common among business leaders:

- 65% are AI literate.
- 24% are fluent.
- Only 8% avoid AI technology completely

This is some text insiBusinesses must address the wide AI-usage gap and the rampant AI literacy and fluency gaps that exist between levels, teams, and generations. AI experimentation is rampant in the workplace, particularly among younger workers.

‍Gen Z and Millennials: Over 78% have at least experimented with generative AI tools at work.
‍Older Generations: 41% of Gen X-ers and 66% of baby boomers avoid AI altogether.

This experimentation amplifies the urgency for organization-wide AI literacy. Employees familiar with gen AI tools but not using them safely or effectively increase business risks. Therefore, it is key to invest in secure technology, create training programs, and develop formal policies to upskill the entire workforce.
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‍Team-Specific Gaps
‍AI usage and literacy gaps exist between different teams within an organization:

‍Lower AI Adoption: Sales and customer experience (CX) teams.
‍Higher AI Literacy: IT, HR, and marketing teams.

These gaps must be addressed for businesses to reap the benefits of AI enterprise-wide. If only certain departments use gen AI regularly, while others do not, organizations miss out on opportunities for enhanced productivity and innovation.de of a div block.

A critical component of AI literacy is understanding the large language models (LLMs) that gen AI uses to generate text. LLMs are trained on vast amounts of data, which allows them to perform tasks such as natural language processing, coding, and translation assistance. The foundation of an LLM is its training data, which could be vast amounts of public text from the internet or proprietary data sources. The volume and quality of this data impact how well the LLM learns and performs tasks.
Effective use of gen AI requires an understanding of LLMs' capabilities, so users know when to use specific models for specific tasks. Responsible use also requires awareness of potential biases and inaccuracies in LLM outputs.

Investing in an AI-literate workforce is impactful for both individual employees and the business. Generative AI can:

- Improve job performance.
- Reduce stress.
- Heighten productivity.
- Increase job satisfaction.

These individual gains add up for businesses, presenting an opportunity to transform the workplace. Business leaders report:

- Gains in productivity.
- Increased quality of service for customers.
- Saved costs.
- Faster innovation due to an AI-literate workforce.

Businesses won’t see the full impact of generative AI unless everyone uses it. If only half of the people communicate effectively with gen AI tools, it can lead to roadblocks and frustrations from people communicating at different levels of efficacy. Addressing disparities in communication efficacy and AI literacy must be a strategic imperative for business leaders.

As generative AI technologies evolve, it can be challenging to keep up and understand how to leverage these tools most effectively. The generative AI adoption framework helps organizations:

- Assess their current state.
- Identify areas for improvement.
- Navigate the complex landscape of gen AI to transform their business.

Ensuring an AI-literate workforce is crucial for businesses to maintain a competitive advantage. By investing in AI literacy, organizations can enhance productivity, improve communication, and drive innovation. Now is the time to invest in your employees' generative AI literacy to take the next step toward transforming your business.