UK businesses spend 11.7 billion on 'AI slop' corrections every year, with 1 out of every 4 hours wasted

Date:
Thu, 28 May 2026 10:04:35 +0000

Description:
Layering modern AI tools on top of legacy IT and fragmented data is adding complexity and diminishing returns, study shows.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Most IT leaders worry workers now spend too much time reviewing and revising AI noise and errors Layering
AI on top of unsuitable tech stacks and fragmented data is the biggest cause Business leaders expect returns soon, IT leaders feel responsible to deliver ROI Four in five global mid-market IT leaders report that AI outputs
introduce noise or errors into their work that cause them to have to spend time correcting content, ultimately negating many of the productivity
benefits associated with the tech.

Instead of reducing manual tasks, as many as 86% of leaders say that managing AI complexity has actually increased their team's workload, with employees stuck in a loop of reviewing, revising and regenerating. Per the Freshworks report , IT teams lose around a quarter (26%) of their time to
troubleshooting and complexity management. Latest Videos From You may like Workers are spending a whole day every week managing AI tools Only 31% of UK firms report positive returns on AI investments 'Belief alone is not enough': New study reveals businesses are widely different when it comes to AI
adoption so what's the best course? AI productivity is being offset by
noise, errors Freshworks revealed that UK mid-market companies now spend 11.7 billion annually on so-called 'complexity tax', with companies losing an average of 25% of their AI budget to complexity overhead.

According to the report, poor strategies aren't to blame for the issues, but rather an attempt to layer modern AI tools on top of legacy and fragmented tech stacks. Additionally, only one in three of the companies surveyed had a formal, consistently-applied AI governance framework.

As a result, IT leaders are less likely to be optimistic about ROI while as many as three-quarters (72%) of general business leaders and execs expect to see a return within eight months. IT leaders are feeling the pressure more than ever as four-fifths (81%) worry their career progression could be at
risk if they can't prove measurable ROI within the next year to two.

At this point, companies are so deep into complex tech stacks that solutions can vary. Freshworks advises companies to resolve the AI context problem by ensuring data quality and fragmentation are addressed. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get
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"The companies that move from purchase to performance fastest will turn AI from a complexity tax into a competitive advantage," Chief Product Officer Srinivasan Raghavan explained. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as
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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/uk-businesses-spend-gbp11-7-billion-on-ai-slop-c orrections-every-year-with-1-out-of-every-4-hours-wasted


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