- Report finds 74% of regular AI users now pose questions to AI instead of human colleagues
- New workers are missing out on vital social interactions for company culture
- Employees say they feel more self-sufficient and comfortable making decisions
While the jury is still out on whether AI could be set to replace human workers or severely impact their scopes by automating major parts of their workflows, one thing is clear – humans are increasingly happy to use AI as a colleague and collaborator.
A new MyIQ analysis of nearly 22,500 adults found around three in four (74%) regular AI users now pose the questions they would formerly have asked colleagues to AI.
As a result, around half (48%) now report fewer spontaneous conversations during the working day, suggesting that the effect may extend beyond deliberately redirecting questions to AI with it now having a more profound impact on the social elements of work.
Return-to-office (RTO) mandates now face a complex paradox
While the report doesn’t explicitly cover it, the data presents interesting takes on modern workplace habits.
Post-pandemic layoffs and work-from-home mandates were quickly followed by urgent return-to-office mandates, with CEOs globally encouraging in-person working due to the collaborative nature of shared environments, and the opportunities to have ad-hoc conversations that spark learning and broader thinking.
With around half now saying this doesn’t happen so frequently, the findings beg the question whether commuting to the office might be all that necessary after all in an AI-first era.
Roughly two in five (38%) also noted that newer employees now have fewer natural opportunities to build relationships because routine questions are being redirected to AI, not human colleagues.
“Repeated across a working week, those missing exchanges can mean fewer opportunities to build trust, share judgment, and become known inside a team,” MyIQ Managing Director Sarah Meyer wrote.
Around half (53%) of the respondents also described their work as more transactional since adopting AI, marking a major shift in workplace dynamics.
AI might be more efficient, but it’s still lacking in certain areas
But despite the negative social implications, AI’s role in brainstorming, questioning and critical thinking could be seen as positive, too. For example, nearly two-thirds (62%) say they feel more comfortable making decisions independently than they did a year ago, with nearly three-quarters (71%) feeling more self-sufficient at work.
The report also warns that, while a chatbot can supply an immediate and often factually correct answer, it lacks the accompanying social information and organizational knowledge that a colleague would bring to the table.
Interestingly, a similar SurveyMonkey study revealed that 77% want more opportunities to brainstorm with colleagues and 61% want stronger connections across teams even though workers are increasingly settling for the first AI-generated answer, instead of digging deeper.
Together, these two reports imply that workers are increasingly seeking the efficiency that AI promises and they’re willing to ask questions for a quicker answer, but they still value the collaborative nature of human interactions within the workplace.
What’s less clear is how employers could implement these opposing forces into one unified workforce, while delivering the hybrid approach that workers have come to value with working from home and benefiting from going to the office.
“As AI makes solitary problem-solving easier, organisations may need to pay closer attention to the forms of workplace learning and social connection that efficiency alone does not capture,” the MyIQ study concludes.
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