Dive Brief:
- Artificial intelligence might be creating a “connection deficit” at work, with 33% of employees saying they “rarely or never” talk to co-workers each week apart from basic task-related conversations, according to recent research from HR enterprise platform Workday.
- Less than half of respondents (46%) said they found it “easy or somewhat easy” to develop friendships in the workplace, and 14% said they took time off in the past year because they felt lonely or socially isolated, per the report. However, 16% of employees said that because of AI, they don’t have as much patience for small talk.
- Over the last year, 76% of respondents used AI tools for advice, 52% used AI for brainstorming and 37% used AI for companionship at work, saying the tech was less judgmental and more available than colleagues. Workday called these AI interactions “socially frictionless.”
Dive Insight:
Although AI may be wearing away at daily interpersonal connections, the report also found that the technology may be alleviating some worker burnout and improving record low employee confidence levels.
Workday’s Human Connection Workplace Index tallied the responses of 2,150 workers who are actively using AI and found that 62% said the tech has decreased their stress levels and burnout risk. Another 86% reported feeling more productive, and 64% said they felt more confident in terms of their future success.
“We are seeing that AI is having a very positive effect on productivity at work, and employees across all industries globally are clearly telling us they feel less burned out than before they started using AI tools,” Carrie Varoquiers, chief impact officer at Workday, said in a statement. “But our Index cautions that, as we route more questions, ideas, and even conflicts through AI, we risk losing the everyday human interactions that build trust, resilience, and a sense of connection.”
The report found a significant generational divide when it came to the social risks of AI. Generation Z was 12 times more likely than Generation X to say they felt “completely disconnected from colleagues,” per the report. Furthermore, Gen Z was twice as likely as millennials and eight times as likely as Gen X to say they felt lonely at work.
Notably, Workday found that 43% of employees said “reduced human-to-human interaction” concerned them the most — even more than potential job loss — when it came to implementing AI tech in the workplace.
Leaders need to consider social connections as a critical part of their organizational infrastructure, Workday added. The report recommended “intentionally designing how people collaborate, give feedback, and receive mentorship,” and also suggested that managers monitor the ways AI might be affecting trust and interdepartmental collaboration. In addition, leaders need to ensure that AI supplements important conversations at work instead of replacing them.
Some leaders may not be prepared to handle the intensifying mental health issues AI is causing in the workplace. In this year’s Identity of HR survey, HR Dive found that 55% of HR professionals said mental health and wellness are going to be increasingly important factors at work over the next three to five years.
AI usage is also creating a skills deficit, with 39% of all workers and 46% of Gen Z saying their dependence on AI tools has caused their skills to deteriorate and even make them less smart, according to a recent survey from IT firm GoTo. That same report found that despite this, 60% of all employees said they felt compelled to keep using AI in order to boost their productivity.