Despite being the latest craze, and employers pushing its use, AI adoption is slowing among employees as excitement for the tech is waning.

Slack conducted a survey of more than 17,000 “desk workers around the world,” to ascertain that status of AI adoption. According to the company, 99% of executives planning to invest in AI in the coming year, while “97% say they feel some level of urgency to incorporate AI into business operations.”

Workers, on the other hand, are less enthused with AI, with AI adoption rates stalling in both the US and France.

Between September 2023 and March 2024, AI adoption had steadily increased globally, growing from 20% of the global desk worker population to 32% in March 2024 — or about a third of all desk workers. But over the past three months, AI adoption rates have stalled in some countries; France saw just two percentage point growth, from 31% to 33% of desk workers trying AI, and the U.S. saw just a single percentage point growth, from 32% to 33% of desk workers.

Excitement around AI is also cooling, dropping six percentage points (47% to 41%) among the overall global population. This trend is being driven by the U.S., where the portion of workers who say they’re excited about AI helping them to complete tasks at work dropped nine percentage points (from 45% to 36%) over the past three months and France where excitement rates dropped 12 percentage points (from 53% to 41%). Excitement also dropped in Japan and the UK.

A significant number of workers are uncomfortable telling their managers whether they depend on AI for their job.

Previous Workforce Index research has found that many workers are uncertain about what types of AI use are permitted at their company, but new findings reveal that formal permission isn’t the only inhibitor of AI uptake; desk workers are also at odds about when it’s socially and professionally acceptable to use AI at work.

When presented with a list of 11 common workplace tasks from writing messages to brainstorming new ideas to analyzing data to writing code, nearly half (48%) of all desk workers said they would be uncomfortable admitting to their manager that they used AI for at least one of the above.

• Feeling like using AI is cheating (47%)
• Fear of being seen as less competent (46%)
• Fear of being seen as lazy (46%)

Even more telling, employees are concerned that using AI will lead to more busy work, rather than helping them focus on more important tasks.

The data shows a gulf between what desk workers wish AI would allow them to focus on and the ultimate effect they predict it will have on their work lives: Employees most want AI to allow them to refocus their time on meaningful activities, but they suspect that AI could lead to more busy work and increased workload.

Unsurprisingly, only 21% of employees cited their employers discouraging AI usage as the reason for not using it.

“With so many businesses making AI investments right now, these findings are a real wakeup call to leaders,” said Christina Janzer, head of Slack’s Workforce Lab. “AI adoption isn’t just about enterprises, it’s also about employees. With sentiment around AI dropping, businesses need to help employees accelerate their AI journey and address the cultural and organizational blockers standing in their way.”

“Our research shows that even if AI helped you complete a task more quickly and efficiently, plenty of people wouldn’t want their bosses to know they used it,” added Janzer. “Leaders need to understand that this technology doesn’t just exist in a business context of ‘Can I get the job done as quickly and effectively as possible,’ but in a social context of ‘What will people think if they know I used this tool for help?’”