Important points
- A new report finds that managers are so eager to credit AI for their contribution to work that they downplay the role of human workers.
- One employee received a negative annual review after failing to highlight the role of AI in a project.
- Meanwhile, one technology employee who thought an AI agent helped him code faced a delay in his promotion.
Workers who approve of the use of AI find that their chances of promotions and raises are lower when it is implemented.
A new report from Business Insider tracked several employees who used AI in their work projects. The results show that managers are keen to celebrate AI’s contribution to work and reduce the role played by human workers.
For example, Aubrey, a healthcare analyst based in New York, was preparing a presentation for a big project earlier this year when she received a request from her manager. In a presentation to senior executives, her manager encouraged her to highlight how she used the AI chatbot Claude on her project. Aubrey said she used Claude, but it was on a small scale. She said her manager wanted Claude to take on a bigger role.
“I spent over a year collecting problems, drafting alternatives, and learning the impact of changes, and my managers attributed all of that to AI,” Aubrey told Business Insider. She did not give her last name due to the sensitivity of the discussion.
In her presentation, she highlighted AI’s contribution to the project while also indicating that she did most of the work. But in the middle of her presentation, her manager stops her and says in front of senior executives that she built the project in one minute using AI, ruining her work.
A few weeks later, at her annual review, Aubrey received negative feedback. Her manager said the presentation was a factor in the evaluation.
How much trust should workers give to AI?
Another employee, Deepak, works in the IT department of a Fortune 500 technology company. Last year, in a bid for transparency, he revealed to his boss that he was using an AI coding agent to perform menial tasks.
That move backfired. Deepak told Business Insider that his expected promotion was delayed because his boss started automatically recognizing all of his positive contributions to AI.
Deepak and Aubrey’s situation highlights growing concerns among white-collar workers. If they allow the use of AI, will managers expect it to take over their jobs? Business Insider found that in response to this situation, many workers are hiding how they are using AI from their bosses and debating whether to give AI credit for their work.
One company exemplifies the struggle between AI-driven productivity and headcount reduction. Fintech company Block. In February, Block fired about 4,000 employees, or 40% of its workforce, citing AI-powered “intelligence tools” that were transforming the way the company operates.
CEO Jack Dorsey said in April that AI has transformed the company’s work. Instead of employees showing up to meetings with slide decks, they used AI to create prototypes such as sketches, diagrams, and fully functional tools that they presented at meetings.
“Everyone is now bringing in their own prototypes, which is pretty cool,” Dorsey said on an April episode of Sequoia. long and strange journey Podcast.
Important points
- A new report finds that managers are so eager to credit AI for their contribution to work that they downplay the role of human workers.
- One employee received a negative annual review after failing to highlight the role of AI in a project.
- Meanwhile, one technology employee who thought an AI agent helped him code faced a delay in his promotion.
Workers who approve of the use of AI find that their chances of promotions and raises are lower when it is implemented.
A new report from Business Insider tracked several employees who used AI in their work projects. The results show that managers are keen to celebrate AI’s contribution to work and reduce the role played by human workers.
For example, Aubrey, a healthcare analyst based in New York, was preparing a presentation for a big project earlier this year when she received a request from her manager. In a presentation to senior executives, her manager encouraged her to highlight how she used the AI chatbot Claude on her project. Aubrey said she used Claude, but it was on a small scale. She said her manager wanted Claude to take on a bigger role.
