The news will be a kick in the fork of the development of AI which depends on a rapid adoption of AI technology and the high market valuations tied to it. A slowdown or flattening in AI adoption could challenge many optimistic projections about the technology's future.

Slack's latest survey revealed that 33 per cent of US workers say they are using AI at work, a slight increase from the previous survey by just a single percentage point, indicating a substantial flattening of the growth noted earlier.

Conversely, global adoption of AI at work rose from 32 per cent to 36 per cent. However, the survey also highlighted that nearly half of workers worldwide (48 per cent) are uncomfortable disclosing their use of AI to their managers. The main reasons cited include fears of being perceived as lazy, cheating, or incompetent.

Slack's senior VP of research and analytics Christina Janzer said: "Too much of the burden has been put on workers to figure out how to use AI. To ensure adoption of the technology, it's important that leaders not only train workers, but encourage employees to talk about it and experiment with AI out in the open."

The survey, which took place between August 2-30, questioned 17,372 workers across Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the US.