Instead of improving productivity, AI is creating 'workslop'

"Despite the now widespread use of AI in workplaces, workers aren't actually becoming more productive, according to a new survey led by Stanford Social Media Lab and BetterUp Labs. The report finds that while employees are using modern AI tools more than ever, they're using them to create subpar work. The new report calls the phenomenon "workslop," which it defines as "AI-generated work content that masquerades as good work, but lacks the substance to meaningfully advance a given task.""

"Per the report, 40% of employees out of 1,150 surveyed said they've received workslop in the past month, and that about 15.4% of the work they receive overall meets the criteria for workslop. Most commonly, workslop is shared between peers (40% of the time), but it doesn't stop there: 18% of the time, workslop gets sent to managers. And it also happens in reverse: 16% of the time, managers (or even more senior leaders) send workslop out to their teams."

"There's an emotional cost to receiving workslop. More than half of respondents (53%) said they feel annoyed, 38% confused, and 22% are downright offended when they receive workslop. Receiving low-effort work from employees may also change the way coworkers view said employees. "Approximately half of the people we surveyed viewed colleagues who sent workslop as less creative, capable, and reliable than they did before receiving the output," the report said."

Employees increasingly use modern AI tools but often produce low-quality 'workslop'—AI-generated content that masquerades as good work yet lacks substance and requires cleanup. Among 1,150 employees, 40% said they've received workslop in the past month, and about 15.4% of received work meets the criteria. Workslop is shared among peers 40% of the time, sent to managers 18% of the time, and originates from managers or senior leaders 16% of the time. Professional services and technology are most affected. Emotional impacts include annoyance (53%), confusion (38%), and offense (22%), and recipients view creators as less creative, capable, reliable, and trustworthy.

Read at Fast Company