Feature
The world is in a frenzy about generative AI, and it’s easy to see why.
I use ChatGPT’s generative AI capabilities daily to speed up task completion. It’s a great brainstormer, researcher, social media post drafter. People in all kinds of industries are tapping into the technology to make their working lives easier.
In March 2023, two MIT researchers took a look at the effects generative AI had on productivity, specifically as it pertains to mid-level professional writing tasks. They found the technology “substantially raises average productivity” while also increasing output quality.
And a more recent Nielsen Norman Group study found that using generative AI tools like ChatGPT in business improves employees’ productivity by an average of 66%, with more complex tasks and less-skilled workers seeing the biggest gains.
The benefits are real — and employees know it. But since there are also risks to using the technology, leaders may want to look at how it’s (really) being used and establish ground rules to guide employees as they tap into the power of generative AI.
Why Employees Hide AI Use
AI is enabling employees to approach their jobs in new ways, facilitating many mundane tasks. There are obviously valid reasons for wanting a little help from the technology, but Ethan Mollick, associate professor at The Wharton School, said many employees who use tools like ChatGPT aren’t telling their companies about it.
He wrote about this reality in his blog “Detecting the Secret Cyborgs” — with the cyborgs being the innovative, AI-using employees.
Mollick claims employees keep their AI use secret for three reasons, and they all boil down to fear:
- The organizational policy bans generative AI use, and employees don’t want to get in trouble for violating company policy.
- A big source of AI’s value is people not knowing you’re using it. When people know they’re receiving AI-generated content, they judge it differently, said Mollick.
- Workers might worry that if they can automate parts of their job, they might be training their own replacements. So, to avoid the risk of getting fired, they hide their AI use.
No matter the reason, leaders must get ahead of this trend to manage the risk. So, how can organizations address the fear among employees and encourage them to come forward about how they’re innovating with AI?
Related Article: AWS's Diya Wynn: Embed Responsible AI Into How We Work
Opening the Doors to Honest, Transparent AI Use
AI disruption is coming, and employees are already on board. Leaders who want to prepare for AI shouldn’t ignore the importance of fostering a culture of transparency.
Here are some tips to encourage an open and honest dialogue about AI use.
Dismiss the Hype, Talk Strategy
The root cause of employees’ fear is uncertainty, said Vin Vashishta, founder and AI advisor at V Squared. “People don’t know what the process or result would be. Speculation always brings out people’s worst fears.”
That’s why dismissing the hype is critical, he said.
“Generative AI tools aren’t reliable enough to function without people. People also don’t 10X their productivity overnight.” Most generative AI systems, for instance, are known for hallucinations — where the AI generates false information with brash confidence.
There will be gains, Vashishta said, but leaders should assure teams that those gains will be measured before enforcing arbitrary productivity standards.
Conor Jensen, field CDO at Dataiku, added that leaders should acknowledge to teams (and customers) that they’re proactively working on updating their strategy around how to use data and analytics to include AI tools.
“This strategy should be viewed as an approach at all levels where employees are encouraged to identify use cases and welcome into POCs and other projects experimenting with the new tools.”
Tap Into Incentives
One suggestion Mollick made was to incentivize AI-using employees to come forward. “That means not just permitting AI use but also offering substantial rewards to people finding substantial opportunities for AI to help,” he wrote.
Incentives examples he gave include:
- Cash prizes of a year’s salary.
- Promotions.
- Corner offices.
- The ability to work from home forever.
“With the potential productivity gains possible due to LLMs [large language models], these are small prices to pay for truly breakthrough innovation. And large incentives also show that the organization is serious about this issue.”
Vashishta believes incentives can be powerful motivators but added that they must align with the business goals.
“Incentives tied to team, organization or business KPIs keep tools focused on value creation and aligned with business strategy,” he explained. “When the team leverages generative AI tools to deliver more value, they deserve a commission or bonus.”
Related Article: Generative AI, the Great Productivity Booster?
Create a Guided Path
According to Jensen, companies need to be proactive about creating and implementing guidelines for the use of AI tools internally — as well as have an explicit path forward.
Webinar
Sep
25
CMS Briefing: A Live Look at What’s Next in AI-Driven Platforms
Learn how leading organizations are using AI‑driven tools to publish faster, personalize smarter and stay secure.
Register
Webinar
On demand
Ready or Not: How Data-First Organizations Are Unlocking Agentforce Potential
Learn how to cut through the noise, activate Agentforce and build a Salesforce AI strategy that actually delivers.
Watch Now
Webinar
On demand
AI in Customer Service: Faster Resolutions, Happier Customers
Don’t let rising demand burn out your team. See how to build a smarter, more resilient support org.
Watch Now
Webinar
On demand
From Hype to High-Impact CX Strategies That Actually Scale
Turn buzzworthy AI and outsourcing trends into measurable CX wins with fresh 2025 data.
Watch Now
Webinar
On demand
Insights to Action Rethinking the Contact Center for Real Business Impact
Join our exclusive webinar to hear CX executives share their innovative strategies for transforming service delivery.
Watch Now
Webinar
On demand
Accelerating Healthcare Ops with AI
Sign up to see how your peers are putting AI to work — and making it stick.
Watch Now
“If they’ve unwisely banned these tools entirely, then they need to be willing to take the appropriate actions,” he said. “That is a pretty harsh approach, though, and is not how I recommend companies proceed.”
For companies that already have guidelines in place, he recommends soliciting employees to help inform AI-related policies and approaches.
“The employees with the initiative to figure out how to use these tools effectively should be held up as examples and used as part of official projects to make sure the company is getting the most out of the tools and their employees,” he said.
Set an Example
If culture within a company starts at the top, then leaders will want to set an example. One way to do that is to start a discussion on the AI tools they’ve already tried, said Vashishta.
They can address questions like:
- What tools have you used?
- Does that tool work?
- Was it a novelty that wore off over time?
Jensen said the power of creating internal workplace communities and filling them with the employees most excited about building AI tools into workflows is something that “will increase your likelihood of success dramatically.”
Related Article: Who’s Responsible for Responsible AI?
AI Will Change the Way We Work
These new tools are advancements that are expected to change the way people work — in both predictable and unpredictable ways, said Jensen.
“And the companies and employees which are proactive about adapting to the change will be disproportionately successful in the years ahead,” he said.
Still, he added, these tools will likely impact the jobs we’ve been telling new workers to focus on for the past few decades in the shift to more knowledge work. “So, we must be mindful of how we manage this transition to enable people to use these tools and become more effective and efficient, and take an augmented workforce approach — not becoming overly reliant on the new tools and excluding our workers,” he said.
