Workers are using AI more at work and etiquette questions are growing

In short: More people are using AI tools at work, and it is creating new questions about politeness, trust, and transparency.

What's going on

A Financial Times opinion column says workplace manners are getting harder to judge as AI tools become common in everyday tasks. The piece points to a recent Deloitte survey of 25,000 UK workers, which found 63 percent use generative AI at work, mostly to search for information, write emails, and summarise documents.

Searching for information with AI usually causes few problems, the column argues. But using AI to write emails can be riskier, because the tone may feel cold or unnatural. Myka Meier, founder of the Beaumont Etiquette firm, says people can often tell when a message was written by AI, and that can make the sender look lazy or rude.

Summaries are another sensitive area, especially when they affect other people. The column gives an example of a manager sending an AI-like summary in a performance review that missed key achievements and goals. The point is that using AI for your own private notes is different from using it to judge or represent someone else.

The article also criticises what it calls “workslop”, meaning AI-assisted work passed to colleagues without careful checking. It cites a separate finding that more than a third of US workers have had to fix this kind of low-quality output, costing them more than three hours a month.

What to watch

The column argues that the simplest rule is to tell people when AI is involved, especially in meetings. Recording a call, or sending an AI note taker (like inviting a silent stenographer), should come with clear warning and consent. As more workplaces adopt these tools, companies may add clearer rules about when AI help is acceptable and when it crosses a line.

Source: Financial Times