AI training is on the rise
Sylva De Craecker - Acerta
One in five employees in our country followed at least one AI training course last year.
Although the European AI Act no longer prescribes a specific level of AI literacy, organisations remain responsible for supporting the development of their employees’ AI knowledge and skills. Belgian companies therefore continue to invest in AI training, not only to comply with the regulations, but also because of economic and societal considerations and the rapid pace of AI development, according to a new survey by Acerta.
AI training opportunities are increasing, but remain limited
Among employers, there’s a growing sense of urgency around the responsible use of AI. The number of employers with 10 or more employees who provided training on the use of AI to all or some of their staff last year rose by almost 15%. Meanwhile, one in three companies (32%) is actively working on AI literacy.
The capabilities of AI are expanding virtually every day, while the risks associated with careless use are very real. It’s therefore worrying that currently only one in three companies provides AI training for its staff. Employers should begin by carefully assessing the impact of AI on various jobs within their company. Companies sometimes still underestimate the fact that just about every employee will, sooner or later, come into contact with AI applications. Through our chair at KU Leuven, we study the impact of AI on tasks and processes within a job. This helps us understand what it will look like in the future and what level of AI literacy it requires. Based on those insights, we can develop the training programmes employees actually need, enabling them to apply what they learn in AI training in their day-to-day work.
Hannelore Van Meldert, AI Expert at Acerta
The fact that two in three companies currently don’t offer any training on the use of AI doesn’t mean they’re not interested in it. One in three employers (29.8%) intend to start offering AI training in the coming year. However, around four in 10 companies (38.1%) still say they have no plans to offer AI training opportunities to their employees.
Despite this situation, there’s considerable interest among employees. Over the past year, more than one in five employees in Belgium (21.4%) completed one or more training courses on the use of AI technology through their employer. That means nearly eight in 10 employees have yet to do so, but six in 10 (59.1%) are interested in doing so this year.
Not everyone recognises its importance yet
Companies that don’t offer AI training at the moment also explained why in Acerta’s survey. Only 34.5% of employers consider AI to be (very) important for their organisation, while 40.5% don’t consider it to be important (at all) and 25% remain neutral. The larger the company, the more importance both employees and employers place on AI.
Artificial intelligence can produce incorrect answers, as it doesn’t actually think. It’s also a bad idea to simply share company data with a public AI tool. On the other hand, AI offers considerable potential to boost productivity or accelerate knowledge acquisition. As an employer, it’s better to err on the side of caution and provide AI training to your staff.
Hannelore Van Meldert, AI Expert at Acerta
About these figures
This data comes from the annual survey (‘Spiegelbevraging’) conducted by Acerta with the support of Bart Meuleman, who works as a sociologist, survey methodologist and lecturer at KU Leuven. The survey was carried out by research agency Indiville, using a sample of more than 600 Belgian employers and over 2 000 employees.
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