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AI workplace adoption comes bundled with fear, guilt

The adoption of AI is surfacing very human emotions for some employees, according to new survey data. Managers need to encourage its use to ease some of that discomfort.

Patrick Thibodeau
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Published: 15 Nov 2024

Using AI in the workplace might be an uncomfortable secret for some employees. They worry that managers or colleagues might see it as cheating or taking a shortcut. Worse, they fear managers might view them as less competent if they rely on AI to do their jobs.

"There is this fear of being seen as lazy," said Christina Janzer, senior vice president of research and analytics at Slack, a Salesforce-owned company, discussing the results of a new survey. "I wasn't really expecting to see feelings of guilt come out so strong." 

This workplace anxiety around AI surfaced in a survey of about 10,000 workers in the U.S., Europe and Japan conducted by Slack's Workforce Lab in conjunction with Qualtrics.

Slack's findings underscore that AI is having a unique effect on the workforce. Unlike previous technologies, AI often brings emotional concerns, reshaping how people interact on the job.

"We trust the machine more than we trust the person to do the thing," said Helen Poitevin, a Gartner analyst, at the recent Gartner ReimagineHR conference.

As AI penetrates workplaces, new tools, including AI feedback coaches in HR, are emerging to help managers prepare for challenging conversations.

Poitevin envisions AI as an adviser, allowing employees to practice interactions, simulate responses, prepare for sensitive discussions and improve communication skills. These AI "pocket advisers" are designed to be ever-present, offering guidance on everyday tasks to help employees feel more prepared.

Human connection

But Poitevin warned that relying too heavily on AI tools can erode human connection. "You can lose human connection by always relying on a bot," she said.

Slack presented its survey findings at a recent press briefing. The data also found that AI adoption in the workplace has stalled, partly due to employee hesitation, discomfort and lack of clear guidance from management.

"People need to feel encouraged and supported to use AI," Janzer said. "If you feel trusted by your manager in general, you're much more likely to use AI."

A recent National Bureau of Economic Research study of about 5,000 participants found that workers are adopting AI almost as rapidly as they adopted personal computers. The study, conducted by Alexander Bick of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Adam Blandin of Vanderbilt University and David Deming of Harvard Kennedy School, showed that generative AI had a 28% adoption rate at work after two years. That's compared with 1984 data, which showed a 25% adoption rate for PCs after three years.

However, like the Slack findings, the NBER study found that only 27% of workers say their employers encourage AI use. Among those who are encouraged, 83% report using AI, compared with 7% of workers who said they receive no encouragement. 

Patrick Thibodeau is an editor at large for TechTarget Editorial who covers HCM and ERP technologies. He's worked for more than two decades as an enterprise IT reporter.

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