AI workslop wastes time and money and erodes trust
Ever been served AI-generated drivel at work and spent hours trying to fix it? You’ve been “workslopped.”
The time wasted trying to fix AI-generated tripe is almost two hours per occurrence, according to research by the Stanford Social Media Lab and BetterUp, published in the Harvard Business Review.
Workslop is “AI-generated work content that masquerades as good work, but lacks the substance to meaningfully advance a given task,” as the researchers define it.
Hands up if you’ve seen this kind of thing.
With the bevvy of gen-AI tools at our fingertips, it’s easy to produce slide decks, entire reports, graphics, and more. But while some are using AI to enhance work that already has substance, others are using it to generate garbage from scratch.
Some 40% of 1,150 U.S.-based full-time employees across industries said they received workslop in the last month, according to the study.
Workslop makes more work for those who receive it
Those who receive workslop carry the burden of trying to remedy it.
I’ve grappled with the cognitive gymnastics needed to review text that bears the hallmarks of workslop. It’s frustrating.
It’s like, I’m pretty sure what I’m reading is mostly AI (but I can’t be sure ‘cos who knows how accurate those AI detectors are). So, I spend time deliberating over how to approach the author and (yes) asking ChatGPT for advice on how to do this diplomatically.
Then, I start carefully editing. But halfway through the edit, I feel I’m wasting my time. I’m a human reviewing the work of a machine, and I’m not sure the person who dropped a quick prompt to push out the text will respond to my feedback with the level of care and attention I’m giving the work.
Another rush of doubts. The process is eating up my time. I’m questioning the future of my craft. And, if I'm honest, I'm feeling disrespected. Why would they send this to me?
Workslop wastes time and money and erodes trust
The HBR article highlights:
• Every time someone deals with workslop it eats up 1 hour & 56 minutes of time
• Each incidence of workslop costs about $186 per month
• Given the estimated prevalence of workslop (41%), an organisation with 10,000 workers loses more than $9 million per year from wasted productivity
Along with lost dollars, the psychosocial effects create divisions in the workplace.
Roughly half of those surveyed saw their colleagues who produced workslop as “less creative, capable, and reliable than they did before receiving the output,” according to the researchers. “Forty-two percent saw them as less trustworthy, and 37% saw that colleague as less intelligent.”
It’s not all doom and gloom.
The authors offer actionable guidelines for leaders to save their organisations from workslop, including modelling "thoughtful AI use that has purpose and intention,” setting clear guidance around norms and acceptable use, and framing “AI as a collaborative tool, not a shortcut.”
At the end of the day, the message is clear: don’t take shortcuts with AI and expect your colleagues to pick up the slack.
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Brendon Bosworth is a communications specialist and science communication trainer with an ever-growing interest in AI. He is the principal consultant at Human Element Communications.
