Survey finds workers keep AI prompts to gain an edge

A Use.AI survey found that 62% of workers who regularly use AI believe stronger AI skills give them a professional edge. Among respondents, 38% said they keep productive prompts to themselves to gain an advantage.

Of those keeping prompts private, 44% did not want colleagues to gain the same productivity benefit, while 31% said they had invested time and effort in developing the prompts and did not want to give up their advantage.

The survey questioned 13,276 adults who use AI at work in organizations in the UK, US, Canada, Australia, the EU and Latin America. It also found that 41% of workplace AI users worried that colleagues or managers would discover how much time and effort AI saved them, and that they might then be expected to maintain the same productivity and speed. In addition, 36% said they had hidden their AI use from coworkers, and 21% had concealed their new productivity skills from their manager.

Ihor Herasymov, Use.AI co-founder and CEO, said the findings suggest workplace tension around AI. He said companies may need to consider how they reward employees who share private know-how, since sharing it could benefit the organization while weakening an individual's position.