Whether it’s a machine learning system boosting SEO, an algorithm sorting résumés or a chatbot handling customer service, artificial intelligence already plays a role in today’s offices.
But what separates the bot seen as a busy-work savior from one viewed as a job stealer? And where’s the line between using a new tool to become more efficient and relying on it in lieu of good judgment?
While ChatGPT and DALL-E 2 made headlines in early 2023, Terry researchers spent more than a decade investigating how to best integrate machine learning systems into the workplace. Pok Man Tang, an assistant professor of management, built his academic career on investigating how employees react to AI.
Before pursuing his doctoral degree, Tang worked in investment banking and became curious about the way his co-workers talked about and to systems that helped them analyze investments.
“My colleagues were super detail-oriented, super organized, super driven, yet they all seemed to have problems working with AI,” Tang says. “They were constantly confused by AI and sometimes even yelled at the AI software. They’d complain to me and say, ‘AI is not getting along with me.’”
In a recent paper published in the Journal of Applied Psychology, Tang found the introduction of engineering robots in a manufacturing setting fueled job insecurity fears and fed antisocial behavior among employees. They experienced more burnout and were more prone to snapping at one another when upset.
In a connected experiment, survey participants asked to read articles about advancements in robot technologies were significantly more worried about job security than they were previously — even if the articles were in fields they did not work in.
This correlation even held up when looking at mere proximity. Tang found people living in areas with lots of robots working in local industries were more worried about their jobs in general.
“Whether it’s psychological or physical exposure to…
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