- TeamViewer report finds 71% of autonomous AI users set guardrails, but 61% wouldn't even use autonomous AI to begin with
- The average worker spends 2+ hours per week validating AI output
- Security and privacy could have the biggest impact
New TeamViewer research positions trust as the latest major barrier to AI adoption, with workers generally viewing the tool positively but struggling to hand over full independence to it.
Today, three in four workers use AI daily and only 3% say they don't see any noticeable workplace benefits, but nearly all (95%) respondents have at least some concern about AI operating without a human in the loop.
This struggle speaks to AI's evolution from generative to agentic, with workers most concerns about the autonomy of AI agents over AI's actual ability to produce results.
Agentic AI's biggest barrier is trust
Three in five (61%) said they'd prefer AI to take no independent action, with only around one-third (35%) willing for it to act autonomously on their behalf. Most of that group (71%) are only comfortable with AI handling defined tasks, confirming that safety and guardrails are a necessity.
As for trust's impact on productivity, more than half (56%) often or always verify AI outputs before relying on them, spending an average of two hours per week checking AI-generated work.
"The real opportunity is to use AI and automation to prevent disruption, improve digital experiences, and free people to focus on higher-value work," CEO Oliver Steil wrote.
Strong security and privacy protections would have the biggest impact in making autonomous AI more acceptable, followed by notifications before significant changes are made, restrictions on what information AI can access, agent activity monitoring tools and the option to reverse any actions.
"The next step is designing systems that know when to act, when to wait, and when to bring people into the decision," Chief Product and Technology Officer Mei Dent added.
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