Employees are relying on AI for personal support. That’s risky.
- Apr 4
- 1 min read
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW — We’ve entered a new era of organizational life when, for the first time in history, people can turn to something other than a fellow human for conversation and support during the workday. They now can engage with AI.
But how are employees using AI for social purposes? How is that usage affecting them? In our ongoing research we’ve been trying to answer those questions and understand where this new dynamic might take us in the future.
The problem that sparked this study is loneliness—specifically, the loneliness that many employees around the world feel at work every day. It has significant business consequences, including lower job satisfaction, performance, and retention.
We wondered if people might be assuaging it by talking to generative and agentic forms of AI at work. After all, we’ve seen how quickly people have become attached to their AI friends, romantic partners, and therapists.
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