The employees secretly using AI at work

Some employers are either tacitly or outright banning access to generative AI tools like ChatGPT. But employees who love them are finding ways to discreetly backchannel.

Since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022, companies have scrambled to keep its workplace use under control.

Many organisations are concerned their data will be leaked – not only unintentionally training OpenAI algorithms with sensitive information, but also potentially surfacing corporate secrets to competitors' prompts, says Simon Johnson, head of the global economics and management group at MIT Sloan School of Management, in Massachusetts, US.

Yet many workers love the technology, and have come to desire, even depend on it.

"These are practical tools that make life easier, such as content aggregation – rather than look through several sources to find an obscure organisational policy, ChatGPT can provide a useful first draft in moments," says Bryan Hancock, partner at McKinsey & Co, based in Washington, DC. "They can also aid with technical tasks, like coding, and complete routine tasks that lighten employees' cognitive load and schedules." 

Berlin-based business consultant Matt and his colleague were among the first at their workplace to discover ChatGPT, mere weeks after its release. He says the chatbot transformed their workdays overnight. "It was like discovering a video game cheat," says Matt. "I asked a really technical question from my PhD thesis, and it provided an answer that no one would be able to find without consulting people with very specific expertise. I knew it would be a game changer."

Day-to-day tasks in his fast-paced environment – such as researching scientific topics, gathering sources and producing thorough presentations to clients – suddenly became a breeze. The only catch: Matt and his colleague had to keep their use of ChatGPT a closely guarded secret. They accessed the tool covertly, mostly on working-from-home days. 

"We had a significant competitive advantage against our colleagues – our output was so much faster and they couldn't comprehend how. Our manager was very impressed and spoke about our performance with senior management," he says.

Whether the technology is explicitly banned, highly frowned upon or giving some workers a covert leg up, some employees are searching for ways to keep using generative AI tools discreetly. The technology is increasingly becoming an employee backchannel: in a February 2023 study by professional social network Fishbowl, 68% of 5,067 respondents who used AI at work said they don't disclose usage to their bosses.

Even in instances without workplace bans, employees may still want to keep their use of AI hidden, or at least guarded, from peers. "We don't have norms established around AI yet – it can initially look like you're conceding you're not actually that good at your job if the machine is doing many of your tasks," says Johnson. "It's natural that people would want to conceal that."

As a result, forums are popping up for workers to swap strategies for keeping a low profile. In communities like Reddit, many people seek methods of secretly circumventing workplace bans, either through high-tech solutions (integrating ChatGPT into a native app disguised as a workplace tool) or rudimentary ones to obscure usage (adding a privacy screen, or discreetly accessing the technology on their personal phone at their desk).

And an increasing number of workers who've come to depend on AI may have to start looking for ways to avoid attention. According to an August 2023 BlackBerry survey of 2,000 global IT decision makers, 75% are currently considering or implementing bans on ChatGPT and other generative AI applications in the workplace, with 61% saying the measures are intended to be long-term or permanent.

While these bans may help companies keep sensitive information out of the wrong hands, Hancock says keeping generative AI away from workers, particularly on a longer-term basis, can backfire. "AI tools are set to become part of the employee experience, so restricting access to them without providing a vision of when and how they'll be adopted – such as following the introduction of guardrails – could create frustration," he says. "And that could lead to folks thinking of working somewhere with access to the tools they need." 

As for Matt, he's found a workaround to keep a step ahead. He and his colleague have begun covertly using the search engine platform Perplexity. Like ChatGPT, it's a generative AI tool that returns complex written answers to basic prompts in an instant. Matt likes Perplexity even more than ChatGPT: it features real-time information and cites sources that can be quickly checked, ideal when his presentations require in-depth, up-to-date knowledge. He queries it hundreds of times a day on his work laptop, often working remotely, and uses it more than Google.

He hopes he can keep using his latest AI tool in secret, for as long as possible. For him, it's worth the minor inconvenience of occasionally having to dim his laptop screen in the office – and not sharing resources with his wider team. "I prefer keeping the competitive advantage," he says.