Tired of “AI slop”? A team of learning scientists at AI skills platform Multiverse say they have a solution.
New research from Multiverse, an upskilling platform for AI and technology adoption, shows that employees who take the initiative to reimagine their roles around artificial intelligence, rather than simply using it to speed up their work, are more engaged, motivated, and creative at work.
The research was conducted in June and July and analyzed 295 full-time UK professionals in industries including finance, government and technology. All had been using generative AI for at least 6 months.
They found that people who engaged in active “job crafting” – redesigning tasks and workflows to integrate AI – experienced significantly higher engagement than those who used technology passively.
“Job crafting essentially means rethinking the components of your role and reshaping it to fit the needs of the job at hand,” Barry Golding, an organizational psychologist at Multiverse, told Business Insider.
“So you move from, ‘This is my job,’ to, ‘This is how I can make my job better.’”
“AI slop” stems from low engagement
The Multiverse team views “AI slop” (a flood of low-quality, generic output produced by generative AI) as a sign of declining engagement rather than a flaw in the technology itself.
“AI slop is due to employees not engaging with the technology properly,” Golding said.
“Copying and pasting AI-generated reports without reviewing or modifying them does not show that employees are engaged, nor does it suggest that they are deeply aligned with the AI tools they are using,” he added.
Job crafters, on the other hand, are the ones who “spot errors, question the logic of the AI, and ultimately ensure that the final product is of high quality,” he said.
By training employees to think critically about how AI fits into their roles, companies can curb sloppy production and foster higher quality work, he added.
AI engagement is not automatic and depends on intent
The findings also challenged the common theory that AI reduces cognitive engagement.
While some studies, such as OpenAI and MIT’s study on ChatGPT and Oxford University Press’s study on AI tools, have found that AI can reduce people’s ability to think deeply, Multiverse’s data suggests that when used intentionally, AI can actually increase focus and dedication.
“If the goal is low-effort automation, there’s no doubt that cognitive function and employee engagement will decline,” Golding says.
“However, our data shows that when employees use AI with intention and actively reshape their work around AI, their absorption, dedication, and vitality (the building blocks of employee engagement) increase.”
Golding said this proactive mindset will help employees move from a passive to an active relationship with AI.
He gave the example of a customer service manager who can use AI to analyze trends and recommend process improvements, rather than just answering tickets one by one.
Such a change in mindset “could lead to real improvements in work engagement,” he added.
How leaders can incorporate “job crafting” as part of their AI strategy
To take advantage of these benefits, Golding says AI adoption needs to be more than just deploying new tools.
“Distributing licenses for AI tools without training employees on how to use them is almost certain to result in decreased productivity, decreased engagement, and negligible impact on productivity,” he said.
He recommends incorporating training into a broader AI strategy, measuring success, and giving employees room to experiment.
He added that leadership plays an important role in setting expectations and modeling correct behavior.
“Give your employees the power to reimagine their roles and the license to experiment within guardrails,” Golding said. “Please lead from the front.”
He cited consulting firm Capita as an example of a company that has made AI implementation a strategic shift rather than just a technology rollout.
After receiving AI training, one of its employees built an “Ask Me Anything” assistant that has already handled more than 70,000 queries company-wide.
Don’t track job creation, track what it drives
Mr Golding advised leaders to focus on the outcomes of ‘job creation’ rather than trying to directly measure it.
“Just tracking behavior doesn’t provide value,” he says.
“Is productivity increasing? Are employee engagement scores improving? It’s more important to measure the outcomes and impact you’re looking for.”
He added that training people to use AI effectively in their contexts naturally leads to curiosity, problem solving, and higher quality collaboration with technology.
Golding said he believes job crafting will soon become a core competency of the AI era.
“AI will change the way we all work,” he said. “Those who take the reins win faster and reap greater benefits than those who don’t. If we can embed these behaviors through technical training, the benefits at the organizational level are multiplied.”
