A new analysis published in the Harvard Business Review suggests that the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence tools is undermining productivity in many workplaces rather than improving it. The article introduces the idea of “workslop”, a term used to describe the flood of low quality content and outputs produced by employees leaning too heavily on generative AI systems. According to the research, the number of organisations adopting AI has risen sharply in the past two years, with many leaders assuming the technology would deliver immediate efficiency gains. Yet a study from MIT Media Lab cited in the article found that 95 percent of organisations have seen no measurable return on their investment in AI. Instead of freeing people from routine tasks, many firms are finding that AI is creating new layers of work. Drafts, reports and proposals generated by software are often superficial, incoherent or riddled with errors, requiring staff to spend additional time correcting or recreating them. (more…)

New research claims to reveal the significant divides in how organisations are adopting artificial intelligence, with some reporting positive outcomes and others citing fear, risk and job losses. The study, carried out by The Adaptavist Group as part of its latest Digital Etiquette: Unlocking the AI Gates report, surveyed 900 professionals responsible for introducing and onboarding workplace AI in the UK, US, Canada and Germany. It found a sharp split between the 42 percent of respondents who believe their company’s AI claims are over-inflated and the 36 percent who do not. (more…)

UK workers expect to hand over almost a third of their workload to AI agents within the next year, yet most say the technology is still unreliable and lacks clear accountability, according to a new poll from Asana’s Work Innovation Lab. The survey of more than 2,000 workers, including 1,021 in the UK, found that employees anticipate delegating 32 percent of tasks to AI within 12 months and 41 percent within three years. At present, only a quarter feel ready to do so. Despite the rapid spread of adoption, with nearly three-quarters already using AI agents, concerns about reliability and oversight remain high. (more…)

A new survey claims to highlight growing unease among employees about the impact of artificial intelligence on their working lives, with many reporting fears of skill loss, job insecurity and reduced human interaction, as well as brain rot. The research, carried out by Howdy in August 2025 among 1,007 full-time workers aged 19 to 77, found that while the majority are already using AI tools in some form, significant numbers are questioning the consequences. Around one in four believe they risk losing critical abilities through over-reliance on artificial intelligence, while a fifth said the technology already makes them less capable. A smaller group, around 10 percent, said they now rely entirely on AI to perform their jobs. (more…)

New analysis from Apollo Academy suggests that large organisations may be losing momentum in their use of artificial intelligence tools. Drawing on the US Census Bureau’s fortnightly survey of more than one million firms, the research shows a downward trend in reported adoption among businesses with 250 or more employees. The survey asks firms whether they have used AI tools in the previous two weeks, including machine learning, natural language processing, virtual agents and voice recognition. While overall use of AI across the economy has grown steadily in recent years, the latest figures indicate that the largest companies are no longer leading the charge. Instead, their adoption rates appear to have stalled or declined slightly. (more…)

Nearly one in three employees are undermining their organisation’s use of generative AI, according to a new report. A survey by Writer and Workplace Intelligence suggests that 31 percent of staff admitted to behaviour that could be classed as sabotage. of workplace AI. This includes entering sensitive company information into unapproved tools, using software not sanctioned by employers, or failing to report security breaches. Around one in ten said they had gone further, deliberately lowering the quality of their work, tampering with performance metrics, or refusing to use AI altogether. (more…)

A new large scale study from Microsoft has offered what its authors claim is one of the clearest pictures yet of how Generative AI is being used in real workplaces and which jobs are most exposed to its growing influence. Researchers from Microsoft analysed 200,000 anonymised user conversations with Bing Copilot, Microsoft’s publicly available AI assistant, to determine how AI is assisting or performing work tasks. The study focused on the types of activities people use GenAI for, how successfully AI completes them, and how these activities align with those performed across hundreds of occupations. (more…)