The Hidden Causes of AI Workslop—and How to Fix Them
3/10/202629 min
As organizations and their employees ramp up their generative AI experimentation, leaders are facing a new problem: the rise of AI-generated "workslop," which seems okay on the surface but doesn't actually pass muster and, when passed on to colleagues, ultimately hurts team efficiency, performance, trust and morale. Kate Niederhoffer, chief scientist at BetterUp, and Jeff Hancock, professor of communication at Stanford, say that while it's tempting to blame individuals for this kind of misuse of ChatGPT and other tools, management is more often that not contributing to the workslop epidemic by putting pressure on employees to produce more and to use AI when possible without offering clear training or guidelines. Niederhoffer and Hancock offer advice on how to stem the tide of workslop. They are coauthors of the HBR articles "AI-Generated “Workslop” Is Destroying Productivity" and "Why People Create AI “Workslop”—and How to Stop It."
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First 90 secondsAlison Beard· Host0:00
[background music] AI agents are suddenly everywhere you turn, but without identity, you can't really control what they do. Okta helps you assign every agent a trusted identity, so you get the power of AI without the risk. Secure every agent, secure any agent. Okta secures AI. A new digital reading experience from Harvard Business Review is here. It's the HBR Interactive Issue. Swipe through pages, search each issue, and listen to articles with audio narration. The interactive issue is available now to all HBR print magazine subscribers. Not yet a subscriber to the HBR print magazine? Subscribe today at hbr.org/interactiveissue. I'm Alison Beard.
Adi Ignatius· Host1:01
And I'm Adi Ignatius, and this is the HBR Idea Cast.
Alison Beard· Host1:08
Artificial intelligence promised to make us faster, smarter, and more productive at work. So why does it sometimes feel like it's doing the opposite? If you're trying to figure out how to use AI without undermining your culture, collaboration, or credibility, this episode is for you. Today we'll explore why AI- All right.
Adi Ignatius· Host1:28
Stop, stop, stop, stop. Alison,