No technology has grown as rapidly and effectively in most of our lifetimes as Artificial Intelligence (AI). Personally, I transitioned from somewhat initial uncertainty to signing on for a monthly fee so I would have unlimited ChatGPT at my daily fingertips. Several of the other chat boxes carry the same benefits as ChatGPT so I will generalize AI to embrace virtually all of them. From a personal point of view as a retired business school professor, I now can only imagine the challenges faculty and students are having as to what educational uses of AI are acceptable and what abuses must be avoided.
But it does not end at the university level. Teachers in elementary schools are now trying to figure out how to use AI productively without compromising their students’ ability to learn to think on their own and the challenges range through all the school grades. Parents initially objected to their children being required to store away their mobile phones. Now the generally accepted position is that this is acceptable. Their children may have to suffer a little separation anxiety but if it helps genuine learning then it is an appropriate course of action.
More articles have appeared in the news about the risks and benefits of AI than any other technology in my lifetime. Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s when my academic career began, the generally accepted view was that technology would eliminate many jobs, but they would be replaced by other jobs as employees got trained or re-educated. The collective opinion now seems to be that this is no longer the case. The overall opinion now is that AI will create many new jobs, but these jobs are not likely to replace the ones that have been eliminated. Worker displacement in only part of the issue. Now, those workers remaining are having to get on board just to keep up with the rapidity of changes taking place.
New questions are being raised as AI is sweeping into the workplace. Will AI really make us more productive? Will AI transform the nature of work itself? The answers to these questions may not come quickly. As this is occurring, however, it is becoming apparent that some of the employees that are keeping their jobs are becoming suspicious of their colleagues and how they may be using AI in their work. In many organizations, the absence of clear policies and guidelines is breeding mistrust among co-workers.
The absence of rules, policies or norms in the workplace has driven much of the mistrust. Even when organizations are striving to manage the use of AI, many policies are so vague that they are easily and often dodged. One study of 30,000 employees found that about 40 percent of them were using AI when they were not supposed to. In another study, an employer found that among their 48,000 employees, only about 57 percent admitted to passing off AI generated content as their own. The human element complicates this situation in a variety of ways and among them, with AI, is that employees are not very good at detecting AI, because it is so good, and it’s becoming commonplace for workers to hide their AI use for fear of being exposed.
There are strategies organizations can take to deal with the trust issues identified, but they will be the subject of a later discussion. Meanwhile, many AI corporate officials are raising broader issues about the speed with which AI is taking over business operations and decision making.
References
Watson, H. J. and Archie B. Carroll, Computers for Business: A Managerial Emphasis, Revised Edn., BPI Inc., 1980.
“Conquer the AI Elephant in the Office,” Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2026, B4,B5.
Sam Schechner, “How would AI Actually Post a Threat?” Wall Street Journal, September 10, 2026, B4. Tessa West, “Do you suspect your colleague is using AI at Work? Wall Street Journal, September 14, 2026, R1-R2.
Professor emeritus, Terry College of Business, University of Georgia, USA. Dr. Carroll received his three academic degrees in management (1965; 1966; 1972) from the College of Business, The Florida State University (Tallahassee, Florida USA). He is founding author and now co-author of BUSINESS & SOCIETY: ETHICS, SUSTAINABILITY & STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT (2023), 11th edition, with Jill A Brown; Co-author of CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY: THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE which won the 2014 BEST BOOK AWARD at the Academy of Management--Social Issues in Management Meeting; and Author of BUSINESS ETHICS: BRIEF READINGS ON VITAL TOPICS. Carroll won the first Lifetime Achievement Award in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) from the Institute of Management, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Management, International Association for Business & Society, and the Southern Management Association. He has published over 100 articles, and his citations exceed 100,000 according to Google Scholar Citations.