75% of workers ask AI questions instead of colleagues - with potentially serious consequences

Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google.ZDNET's key takeawaysAI could be replacing certain workplace interactions.Researchers worry that talking less to coworkers could make us lonelier.AI can also be used to encourage interactions.When Maria Goyal has a question, her coworkers typically meet her with one answer: Ask Claude. The 25-year-old works at a marketing agency in Colorado. In the year she's been there, she's witnessed a creep where AI has become more ingrained into every aspect of the work, and this shift makes her feel isolated and self-conscious about turning to one of her more experienced coworkers for help or to brainstorm ideas."It prevents me from like learning more in depth rather than just having like a robot do it for me," she told ZDNET over the phone.Goyal isn't the only one who feels like AI is inhibiting human interaction at work. A handful of recent studies show that AI is changing how people communicate at work, and often replacing everyday exchanges. Also: 73% of tech job listings require AI skills now: How to show off yoursData from a July survey from cognitive assessment platform MyIQ found that three-quarters of people who use AI now ask their chatbots questions instead of colleagues. In May, Workday found that Gen Z is 12 times more likely than Gen X to feel "completely disconnected" from their coworkers. Also in July, Adobe for Business reported that 68% of workers said they'd be more comfortable asking a chatbot an obvious question than a coworker. "AI presents a really big opportunity, but it also presents a challenge in that we absolutely need to ensure that we surround ourselves with other human beings, and as leaders, we need to create opportunity for more human connection," said Adam Mendler, a leadership expert, University of California, Los Angeles leadership instructor, and host of the "Thirty Minute Mentors" podcast.Also: The 3 types of people who will excel in the AI agent era, according to tech leadersThe rash of survey data comes at a time when Americans have never been lonelier. The CDC estimates that about one in three adults feels lonely, a trend linked to factors such as social isolation. At work, that figure is one in five worldwide. The post-COVID rise of remote work hasn't helped. While it's too early to say whether this shift in how workers relate to each other and their bosses will create a lonelier, less supported, or less productive workforce, researchers warn that the time to prevent such effects is now. Good chatGoyal's experience illustrates one of the biggest concerns some experts have about the loss of everyday interactions with colleagues -- the missed opportunities to build the trust and knowledge vital for well-functioning teams. Constance Noonan Hadley, founder and chief scientist at the Institute for Life at Work, has been studying topics like the future of work, employee loneliness and burnout, and team dynamics for more than 20 years. She said the act of asking a coworker a question, getting a friendly, helpful response, and maybe being able to return the favor is valuable. The MyIQ study also unpacked all the additional information baked into such an interaction.Also: Companies embracing AI the most are hiring more people - including entry-level, report finds"A question could solve an immediate problem, but it could also reveal who had expertise, how another person approached uncertainty, and which colleagues were willing to help. AI can preserve the practical answer while removing much of that social information," the report said.Goyal, for example, is concerned that she doesn't have the chance to show what she does know, and that she's not learning as much from her colleagues as she could."I think it's an underestimation of how much those moments matter, and it's hard to convince people they matter until they don't have them anymore," Hadley said.Stalling out in professional growth can also create anxiety among workers who may feel their own expertise is fragile and possibly easy to replace with AI."If more of those questions go to AI now instead of their more experienced colleagues, then organizations may need to think differently about how they support workplace learning," said Sophie de Villiers, PR manager for MyIQ.And for team leaders, stanching the flow of questions from their reports can also have an isolating effect, Hadley said, while also limiting their understanding of their own teams.Also: AI agents are your new colleagues - how to get the best results"Anyone who's in a senior role is focused on building teams, recruiting, retaining, and developing talent. And the less you're interacting with talent, the harder it's going to be for you to recruit, retain, and develop talent," Mendler said.If maintaining good vibes at work sounds too squishy, it's worth noting that researchers have found that lonely employees can actually cost businesses money. Loneliness at work has been linked to absenteeism, higher turnover, higher healthcare costs, and lower productivity. Gallup estimates that low employee engagement (a measure of "psychological attachment workers have to their work, their team, and their employer") cost the global economy about $10 trillion in lost productivity last year. Keeping talkingTo be sure, the survey data also shows benefits to being able to ask a chatbot a question instead of a colleague. The MyIQ study found that 71% of respondents felt more self-sufficient, and 62% felt more comfortable making decisions on their own, compared to a year prior. As many as 86% of those surveyed by Workday felt more productive. Meanwhile, Adobe found that the impact of agentic AI meant remote workers were 35% more likely than on-site workers to experience a dip in imposter syndrome and mental load.Also: The new enterprise AI expert every company needs - and whyFor Allison Clair, founder and president of communications firm AJC Communications & Advisory, turning to AI does make her feel more isolated at times, but it also has undeniable benefits. Clair isn't always in the same timezone as her clients, and her team often works asynchronously."I do find myself a lot of times just turning to AI to be like, 'Hey, just hash this out with me,'" she said, also noting that she feels more productive pairing down some of the more extraneous chats that might crop up in the workplace. However, Clair is mindful that not every question should be farmed out to AI, and she makes a point of having an in-person client visit at least once a week and schedules times to talk more casually with her team."I've definitely noticed that I do need to set up those times to chat with the people who work for me and get that face time in, and ask about their weeks and see how their weekends have been," she said. Also: 12 rules of agentic AI for successful enterprise transformationIn a recent piece for the Harvard Business Review, Hadley and her co-author Sarah L. Wright discussed ways companies can make sure AI doesn't erode work connections, including monitoring the social impact of adoption, creating guidelines for when AI can or should replace human interaction, designing AI to actually prompt human interactions (for example, an AI assistant might direct an employee to a human before answering a question), or using AI to support relationship-building activities. For example, let AI plan events such as a monthly team outing. For Goyal, she envisions more opportunity for open dialogue at work, and AI functioning more as a supplement to that collaboration. As Clair put it: "Work is also relationships and people, and so I don't think there's any real replacing the day-to-day of that."