IBM Study Finds 60% of Workers Fear AI Eroding Their Skills
A global survey reveals a major gap between executive AI strategies and employee concerns about losing critical thinking abilities.
Key points
- 60% of employees fear AI is eroding their skills, with critical thinking being the most commonly cited concern.
- 43% of workers report that they are blamed when AI systems make errors, creating a reluctance to override automated outputs.
- 72% of organizations report making limited or no use of AI within their own HR departments, despite expecting HR to lead adoption.
A new global study highlights a significant disconnect in how companies and their employees view the role of artificial intelligence in the workplace. While leadership teams prioritize the ability to supervise and validate AI outputs, a majority of workers are focused on the fear that their own cognitive skills are diminishing.
The report, distributed via PR Newswire, indicates that 60% of employees worry that AI is eroding their professional capabilities. This anxiety creates a tension with executive strategies that often treat human judgment as a secondary feature rather than a core component of operational success.
Executive and employee priorities diverge
The survey, which included 1,500 Chief Human Resource Officers and 8,800 employees, shows that 71% of CHROs identify the ability to override AI as the most essential skill. However, only 29% of employees rank this type of judgment as important. This gap suggests that while leaders see AI as a tool to be managed, many workers feel they are losing the very skills needed to manage it effectively.
Accountability gaps create workplace tension
A major source of friction is unclear accountability when AI systems make errors. The data reveals that 43% of employees report that blame falls on them when something goes wrong with an AI recommendation. This lack of clear responsibility makes many workers hesitant to challenge or override automated decisions, even when they suspect the output is incorrect.
When HR leaders share responsibility for defining which decisions remain human-led, employee confidence in AI-enabled processes increases significantly. In contrast, where HR plays only an advisory role, confidence tends to decline. This indicates that structural clarity is more valuable to workers than simple technical training.
HR functions lag behind other departments
Despite the expectation that HR will lead AI transformation, the department itself is often left behind. The study found that 72% of organizations make limited or no use of AI within their HR functions. This creates a paradox where the team responsible for managing the workforce is the least equipped to understand the technology reshaping that workforce.
Organizations that successfully integrate AI report better business outcomes, including an 18% reduction in risk and a 20% improvement in quality. However, these gains often come with invisible labor, where employees spend extra time validating recommendations and fixing mistakes. This hidden workload is a critical trade-off that many leadership teams are failing to account for in their productivity metrics.
