Nearly half of workers admit faking AI use to please bosses

A new survey from software company Visier finds that 48% of full-time US workers admitted to exaggerating their AI skills or usage to colleagues or bosses, driven by workplace pressure to appear AI-savvy. The poll of 1,000 workers across healthcare, finance, HR and other sectors found 54% said AI has significantly changed their job or career in the past two years, though the effects varied from improved performance to added stress.

The survey also found widespread anxiety: nearly 60% of workers said they don't know their employer's plan for handling AI-driven changes, and 45% said they feel pressured to use AI tools even when unsure how to use them well. Visier concluded that this "performative AI use" stems from a lack of trust in leadership.

Workers said they want more training (32%) and more transparency about AI's role in their jobs (31%), rather than vague directives to simply start using AI.