AI assistants in workplaces : implementation, workers, agency, and organizational policies a qualitative study

Artificial Intelligence is becoming more and more common in every aspect of people’s lives, including their work routines. Workplace integration presents individual employees and organizations with both opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, individual employees are able to gain help from an intelligent assistant, possibly reducing their workload and increasing their productivity. On the other hand, organizations might not have developed clear guidelines to manage employee’s use of AI assistants, leading to associated issues, such as data security. This study explores the interplay between employees’ AI assistant usage and organizational dynamics, with a specific focus on employees’ autonomy, organizational policies, and the material features of AI assistants. It uses qualitative research methods to investigate the topic through in-depth semi-structured interviews across multiple industries, grounded theory data analysis, and a participant-centered oral history lens. These methods enabled the researcher to facilitate conversations that lead to a deeper understanding of the complexities involved in the dynamics of employees’ AI assistants adoption and organizational policies. The study results indicate that while employees generally view AI assistants as tools capable of enhancing productivity, their actual implementation in work routines still requires significant human labor. This includes tasks such as training AI assistants and ensuring data security, which are necessary due to their limited capabilities and the absence of clear organizational guidelines. The findings also suggest a complex relationship between increases in productivity and changes in workload. Additionally, the results highlight employees’ agency in utilizing AI assistants, which is reflected in three aspects: resistance to AI assistants at an individual level, self-disclosure of AI assistant usage, and data security concerns. Notably, the absence of clear organizational policies around AI assistants’ use creates strategic ambiguity, allowing employees to adapt the technology to their specific needs. Finally, the study underscores the importance of clear and supportive organizational policies for the use of AI assistants in workplaces and stresses the importance of incorporating employees’ input in the policymaking process.