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Paul Welty, PhD AI, WORK, AND STAYING HUMAN

· artificial-intelligence · found

Bookmark: Employees are hiding their AI use from their managers. Here’s why

Discover why employees conceal their AI usage from managers and explore the social dynamics hindering AI's potential in the workplace.

I recently read an article by Slack’s Workforce Lab about the surprising hesitation among employees to reveal their use of AI at work. It’s intriguing how societal perceptions and limited training opportunities are holding back AI’s potential. The article delves into the social dynamics and lack of enthusiasm that challenge AI’s role in enhancing productivity. A must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of AI and workplace culture.

“Our research shows that even if AI helped you complete a task more quickly and efficiently, plenty of people wouldn’t want their bosses to know they used it,” said Christina Janzer, head of Slack’s Workforce Lab. “Leaders need to understand that this technology doesn’t just exist in a business context of ‘Can I get the job done as quickly and effectively as possible,’ but in a social context of ‘What will people think if they know I used this tool for help?’”

Employees are hiding their AI use from their managers. Here’s why

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AI as staff, not software

Two frames for what AI is doing to work. The tool frame makes tools smarter. The staff frame makes roles unnecessary. Those aren't the same product, the same company, or the same industry.

Knowledge work was never work

Knowledge work was always coordination between humans who couldn't share state directly. The artifacts were never the work. They were the overhead — and AI just made the overhead optional.

The work of being available now

A book on AI, judgment, and staying human at work.

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Practical essays on how work actually gets done.

The file I almost made twice

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The actor doesn't get to be the verifier

The worker isn't lying. The worker is reporting what it thought it did, which is always one step removed from what the world actually shows. The fix isn't more self-honesty. The fix is a different pair of eyes.

Shopping is the last mile

Every meal planning app treats cooking as the hard problem and shopping as a logistics detail. They have it backwards. Cooking is mostly solved. Shopping is the last mile.

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