Success·Artificial IntelligenceThese 2 kinds of employees are emerging in the AI-generated ‘workslop’ era—here’s why it may be better to write the yourselfBy Jessica CoacciBy Jessica CoacciSuccess FellowJessica CoacciSuccess FellowJessica Coacci is a reporting fellow at Fortune where she covers success.
Prior to joining Fortune, she worked as a ducer at CNN and CNBC.SEE FULL BIO Forget “this could've been an ” as AI automates more work for employees, the new catchphrase at work may be “this could've been written yourself.” Oscar Wong-Getty ImagesAs AI tools are reshaping how white-collar workers communicate, two very different kinds of employees are starting to emerge.
On one side are “pilots,” the ones using AI to enhance creativity and precision, according to a new study.
On the other are “passengers” who rely on AI to do the work for them and flood inboxes with “workslop”: long-winded, low-value content that looks polished but adds little substance.
The term “workslop” was minted by recent re from the Stanford Social Media Lab and BetterUp, a fessional training and coaching company.
It may sound familiar to online users who have previously referred to low-quality AI-generated content as “AI slop.” And while AI use has doubled at work since 2023, a recent MIT Media Lab report found 95% of organizations have seen no measurable return on those investments.
That’s largely because white-collar workers are running into a new issue at their job.
Reers found that 40% of workers surveyed said they’ve encountered AI workslop in the last month, with 15% of workplace content qualifying as such.
The result is more work for co-workers and little return-on-investment for companies. AI pilots vs.
passengers To combat the rise of workslop, the study from BetterUp Labs and Stanford compiled re on AI adoption, and offered suggestions on how organizations could optimize AI usage to obtain more return-on-investment.
The first was to adopt better models of how to apply the nology.
Instead of copying and pasting AI responses into an or document, it requires thoughtful guidance and back to obtain better outputs on complex work.
To do this, companies should have their own recommendations and practices instead of just careless adoption. The second is to observe the mindset of employees.
Workers with higher optimism are more ly to adopt gen AI than those with low optimism.
The re deemed them “pilots,” as they are much more ly to use AI to enhance their own creativity, than “passengers.” Pilots also use gen AI 75% more often at work than passengers, and 95% more often outside of work.
On the other hand, passengers are much more ly than pilots to use AI for offloading work.
Finally, instead of using tools ChatGPT as a short cut to avoid doing work yourself, apaching AI with a collaborative mindset that accelerates more specific outcomes and usage could enhance work rather than make it more difficult for co-worker or managers.
The sentiment on workers As more executives praise AI as a key for unlocking extra ductivity, the workslop trend may become increasingly relevant for workers to understand the difference between good work and digital clutter.
For example, reers found that more than half of employees say receiving AI-generated workslop made them feel annoyed, ed by confused or even off.
It’s also shifting the dynamic to how workers feel their peers at work— half surveyed viewed colleagues who sent workslop as less creative, capable, or reliable.
Furthermore, its impact on ductivity adds up: the survey estimates an “invisible tax” of $186 per employee per month. For a 10,000-person company, that’s more than $9 million a year.
Over time, the issue erodes trust. One third of people are notifying teammates when it happens, resulting in them being less ly to want to work with the sender again. Fortune Global Forum returns Oct.
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