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Generative AI cuts work hours by 17% on average: Poll

Published: 28 Jan. 2026, 13:24

Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of the words ″Artificial Intelligence AI″ in this illustration taken on Feb. 19, 2024. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Korean workers have reduced their work hours by 17.8 percent with the help of generative AI platforms, a poll showed Wednesday, with more than half of them using such tools in their daily work.

According to a poll of 3,000 wage workers aged 20 and older conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, generative AI tools helped workers cut their work hours by an average of 8.4 hours per week.

Some 56 percent of respondents said they use AI tools in their daily work, with employees in the information and telecommunications industry recording the highest rate at 77.6 percent.

The poll showed that 66.5 percent of employees at large businesses with 300 or more workers used AI tools, compared with 52.7 percent at small and medium-sized firms.

Respondents said they mainly used AI tools to draft or summarize documents.

Workers who do not use AI tools cited low work efficiency, while those at large companies pointed to corporate security regulations as the main reason.

"In order to gain productivity improvements from generative AI platforms, companies need not only to invest in hardware and software but to take approaches to strengthen workers' capabilities," Lee Chang-keun, a professor at KDI School of Public Policy and Management, said in the report.

Yonhap