AI Is Making Us Kind Of Weird At Work, New Report Suggests

Some of us speak more to chatbots than to our colleagues.

It’s been three years since ChatGPT launched with other AI chatbots to follow. In that relatively short time, AI has changed not only the way humans work, but how we interact with one another in the workplace, according to a new study.

The Adaptavist Group surveyed 900 business leaders responsible for implementing AI and 4,000 knowledge workers across the UK, U.S., Canada, and Germany to understand the impacts of GenAI in particular, on workplace communication for its “Digital Etiquette: Unlocking the AI Gates” report.

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One significant takeaway is that workers are opting to communicate with AI bots over work colleagues.

Almost half of those surveyed (46 percent) in the U.S. who are AI implementers said they prefer to consult with AI on issues related to the law or policies. Thirty-four percent said they use AI when it comes to HR matters.

One of the weirder revelations is the same number of respondents said they’d rather engage in small talk with a bot than a human.

Moreover, 47 percent of U.S. men surveyed said they spoke with their colleagues less since using AI, versus 24 percent of women who said the same.

The report also revealed generational differences in AI preferences. Forty-two percent of younger U.S. professionals aged 25-44 showed a strong preference making small talk with a bot than a work colleague. Professionals over 55 showed a preference for more conventional interactions with only 16 percent saying they would rather chat with a bot.

A few other takeaways from the report include:

• Forty-one percent of U.S. workers reported being “addicted” to AI
• Thirty-one percent admitted to being less polite to humans since using GenAI
• Thirty-two percent of workers worry their skills are declining because of their reliance on AI

However, the news isn’t all odd. A significant number of those surveyed said that AI has helped improve their writing, critical thinking, design, and coding skills.

“As GenAI continues to embed itself in society, we’re seeing a shift in how work gets done and how people connect and communicate. Evidently, AI can make us more efficient and articulate, but it also risks eroding some soft skills and driving a wedge between human interaction,” said Neal Riley, AI innovation lead, The Adaptavist Group, in a statement.

Read The Adaptavist Group’s report in its entirety here.