Nearly Half of Workers Admit Faking AI Use to Please Bosses

Nearly half of American workers—48%—say they have "exaggerated their AI usage or expertise to colleagues or leadership" to keep up with expectations. That figure comes from a new report by Visier, a Vancouver-based software firm, which polled 1,000 full-time workers in the United States across healthcare, finance, human resources and other domains about how they use AI and their opinion of their employer's AI strategy.

The numbers point to a gap between corporate mandates and employee readiness. Corporate leaders are putting tremendous pressure on workers to incorporate artificial intelligence into their workflow, often without a clear understanding of its capabilities or impact, the report finds. Some employees respond by simply faking it.

The pretense has a rational logic. Workers believe that showing enthusiasm for AI matters just as much—or more—than getting better results. When perception outruns reality inside a company, box-ticking beats output.

AI is not a phantom concern, though. A majority of respondents—54%—said their roles or careers had "significantly changed due to AI in the past two years." The direction of that change varied widely. Some workers said AI improved their job performance and satisfaction. Others reported the impact was mostly negative.

Anxiety runs alongside the adoption curve. Nearly 60% of respondents said they are unsure of their employer's plan to address changes brought on by AI. Another 45% said they felt pressured to use AI "even when they're not confident in how to use it effectively."

The report's central conclusion is blunt: the underlying driver of what it calls "performative AI use" is a lack of trust in leadership. The data backs that reading. Nearly a third of respondents—32%—told Visier they want "more AI training and upskilling opportunities." Another 31% called for "greater transparency" on AI-related issues.

The prescription follows from the diagnosis. Simply telling workers to "have AI do it" will not work, the report argues; they must be told how. Leaders should resist the pull of AI FOMO, listen to employees' concerns, stay transparent about how AI might affect their work, and provide the necessary training.

"By providing employees with opportunities to upskill, learn, and share knowledge among colleagues, leaders can proactively prevent performative AI behaviors and help alleviate workforce anxiety," the report states.

The so-what for management is measurable. Companies that mandate AI adoption without training and transparency are not getting the productivity they think they are paying for—they are getting theater. Until leadership closes the trust gap, the 48% figure stands as a proxy for how much of the corporate AI push is performance rather than practice.