By: Beth Schaefer, IPD Director

A few years ago, I wrote an article about the value of the curmudgeon in the workplace.  One of the values is that the curmudgeon is willing to say what others are reluctant to say, but are thinking.  Today, I put on my curmudgeon hat to say that I have so many questions on how AI will shape the workplace that I should just write a stand-up routine about it rather than an article.

I admit it.  I have been avoiding writing about the topic of AI in the workplace.  Topic?  That is the wrong word…  infiltration.

And that is my first problem with AI: it is becoming so ingrained in the workplace that it is hard to pretend it is not there, looking over my shoulder, waiting to kibitz. If I do not embrace AI, will the workplace future pass me by?  But if I leverage AI, then each time I use it, am I actually feeding it the information it needs to replace me and make my role obsolete?  I hear about how corporate is using special AI platforms that protect their intellectual property and innovations.

• My trivia partner can wax poetically about how he uses AI to write code, test code, and collaborate on code to more quickly and accurately improve software for his transportation firm. And, how glad he is that he will retire before his job is replaced by AI.
• I have heard that statistics as high as 87% of organizations are using AI to do their hiring, including interviews. Job-seekers wisely started using AI to submit materials and provide answers to interview questions.  And, now that AI is talking to AI and all the candidates are indistinguishable, they are moving back to using people to do hiring again.
• One of my instructors told me about an organization that uses AI to examine data on how train tracks wear out and how frequently to repair the tracks based on the size of the damage and the weather, and then built a machine that can cruise down the tracks, making some repairs, but ignoring others that can go longer without impacting performance. OK – that sounds pretty cool.

I am not seeing those types of sophisticated uses in my organization, but that does not mean it is not happening, because AI can be sneaky.

And that brings me to the second problem with AI; I do not understand how it works.  My workplace provides access to Copilot.  I also have a personal Copilot subscription that I use at home.  I have heard that different AI platforms are better at different skill sets (much like people), but I still have many questions:

• Where does the information come from?
• Am I stealing someone else’s work?
• Is it ethical?
• Do I have to announce every time AI gives me the assist?
• If we quit providing original content to the internet, will we enter a collective closed information loop that is stuck in 2026?
• How much of the water supply am I using up each time I use AI at work?

And, not quite knowing how AI gets information, brings me to my third problem; it is not always right – sometimes it uses falsehoods.  I try to be aware, use common sense, and check what it tells me.  I ask it to provide its sources so that I can check their credibility and AI’s accuracy in interpreting the information, but… I am not sure that everyone is doing that.

And because AI prevaricates without even being aware that it does, my fourth problem is that I have AI trust issues.  Does AI have my best interests as its goal?  Apparently, AI has been in my life for years, but through a third party in the background – not directly tapped by me with questions or commands. It has already been affecting what I see when I search the internet based on my previous searches. It gives me suggestions of what to buy on Amazon based on what I purchased before.  Yet, I can watch Anne of Green Gables on Netflix, and it says, based on Anne of Green Gables, you should watch The Imperfects. Should I, or is AI trying to offload low-performing shows?  Who is AI actually working for? Is it me?

And, because AI uses alogorithms – it’s filled with bias.  It can be easy to view AI as neutral, but it’s not.  AI uses what it believes it already knows about us to provide information that it thinks we want to hear. Do we need another Yes person in the workplace? The AI on my home laptop focuses only on recipes that can go into the freezer because twice I have asked it for freezer-friendly recipes.  AI – you do not know me like that!

To sum it up… AI is –

• after my job
• difficult to understand
• sometimes lying to me
• giving me bad advice
• just telling me what it thinks I want to hear

Maybe instead of AI training, I need to take a course on Dealing with the Difficult Coworker.