Workers Feel Guilty Using AI at Work

Do you hide your AI use at work? Well, you're not alone. A recent Slack survey found that while the vast majority of workers want to become AI experts, nearly half feel uncomfortable sharing with their boss that they used AI for work. Some feel like AI is cheating, and others fear being seen as lazy.

I think it's no surprise that people are feeling some of that uncertainty. All of it is new and different.

So how can companies help employees overcome this uncertainty? Experts say it starts with building a culture of training, transparency and trust. For example, Salesforce holds quarterly Agent Force Learning Days for employees to learn and experiment with AI agents alongside their coworkers.

We're dedicating a whole day, a quarter for people to try these out, give them that safety in that space when their managers and their leaders are sharing with them those broader tips and giving them that time and space to learn.

Other leaders say managers need to be open about how they personally use AI tools. For example, Slack VP Lucas Puente tells his team how he uses AI agents to categorize survey results.

Very clear to my team and my own manager that this is how we're using AI. It's not at all like some kind of dirty secret.

Puente says. Leaders must also be very clear about AI use. If the task involves personally identifiable information.

With things like customer data or pii, you're going to have to be really prescriptive about the right set of tools that you should be leveraging for those types of data.

With these steps, AI hesitation among employees will hopefully disappear, and you can go back to only feeling guilty about stealing your coworker's lunch out of the community fridge. I'm on to you, Debbie. For McKen counting.