My relationship with Generative AI at work is complicated. I didn’t look for it—it kind of found me. I didn’t want to have feelings for it, but I can’t help it: I’m human.
We definitely have an emotional connection, but I’m still not totally comfortable with everyone knowing about it. Illicit is the word that comes to mind.
And I’m not sure I want to commit, at least to this particular Gen AI—a bit too much of this and that. When I need honesty, I get oily flattery; when I need flattery, I get fluff. After all, there are lots of fish in the sea, and I think of myself as a bit of a catch. Maybe I’m not ready.
Gen AI has been in our work lives for around two years, and already it has shaped the way we think, the way we communicate, the way we dodge meetings. But the real story isn’t about the tech—it’s about us being human and our relationship with this new tech: how we’re living with it, what we (secretly) love, what we fear, and how we hope—beyond all hope—we can change it to become a better partner.
The research is pretty clear: we tend to use our Gen AI in a very transactional manner, for the stuff that takes up time—emails, presentations, notes, ideas, summaries. And we’re generally happy with the results, with even the most unromantic of us at times thinking “Let me count the many ways you complete me.”
Microsoft found that Teams users, on average, are saving an entire day a month just using Copilot to summarise meetings.¹
Slack’s Workforce Index showed a third of people use AI to write messages to their managers—though most are a bit secretive about this.²
And 78% of employees bring these personal relationships (their own AI tools—“BYOAI”) to work because company versions either don’t exist or can’t keep up.³
What is it we love? Our friend Microsoft tells us our relationship with AI saves us time (90%), helps us focus on important work (85%), and makes our work more enjoyable (83%). Gaining AI skills expands our opportunities, as leaders are now prioritising AI aptitude in hiring—66% wouldn’t hire someone without AI skills.⁴
What is it we’re worrying about? More than half of workers are worried about where their relationships are headed—only a third feel hopeful—largely due to a lack of trust and transparency.
Us humans generally don’t trust what we don’t know about this new presence in our lives—54% say they’re unsure of the data that trained their AI tools, and over half think the information just isn’t accurate or complete enough to rely on. Many still think using AI at work looks like “cheating,” and therein we get a pretty weird relationship dance: heavy use, increasing dependency, low transparency.
Are our relationships getting strained? There are definitely expectation mismatches: executives want time saved from using AI to fund learning and innovation—or maybe reduce costs; according to a Slack study, employees increasingly want to spend saved time on the non-work side of life and skill-building.⁵
So, what have we got here, now that the romance has started to fade? Here’s what’s in my head:
“We need to talk.
“It’s not me—it’s you…
“I’m the human. You need to work a little harder to figure me out. I need you to listen better, spend more time understanding me and what I want out of this relationship. I do feel jealous when you help someone more than you help me. And I don’t mean it when I start screaming at you—you’re only trying to help. I changed your voice only because I started to feel things becoming a little stale. Maybe we should see someone, someone human?”
About RockMouse
RockMouse thinks about the human relationship with AI. It helps organisations design adaptive learning ecosystems that work with humans, not around them. We combine AI research, learning design, and behavioural insight to create digital tools that make work—and learning—a little more human.
Written by Mickey Clark, RockMouse Co-founder and Chief Mouse
© 2025 RockMouse. All rights reserved.
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