Exploring the Practical Realities of Generative AI in Danish Public Administration

There is a strong wish from the Danish government to utilise generative artificial intelligence (genAI) in the public sector to increase administrative efficiency and reallocate resources. However, the adoption of genAI in the public sector appears to be disorganised, bottom-up, and lacking coherent strategies. This study examines how employees in Denmark’s public administration experience and adopt genAI in their everyday work, with a focus on its implications for tasks, well-being, and managerial practices. Using an exploratory, inductive qualitative approach, the research draws on focus groups with employees and semi-structured interviews with managers, interpreted through thematic analysis. The findings reveal that adoption is initiated mainly from the bottom up, with employees normalising the use of generative AI after initial hesitation. They report substantial benefits, including time savings, improved quality of outputs, and the ability to complete tasks previously considered unmanageable. At the same time, employees express uncertainty about appropriate applications, shifts in workplace dynamics, and concerns related to redundancy, climate impact, and technological dependencies. Managers provide encouragement and guidance, yet individual initiatives and peer learning emerge as the primary drivers of adoption. By capturing these dynamics in Denmark’s highly digitalised public sector, the study highlights both the opportunities and challenges of generative AI adoption, offering insights that may foreshadow developments in other public administrations.