- Companies are rushing to implement generative AI, but 95% of organizations see no clear return on this investment (according to MIT Media Lab). A main reason: “workslop” – AI-generated content that looks complete but is hollow, lacks context, and shifts the burden of processing to colleagues.
- A survey of 1,150 full-time employees in the US (BetterUp Labs & Stanford Social Media Lab) showed that 41% had received “workslop” in the past month. On average, 15.4% of received content was considered “workslop.”
- Direct consequence: each time “workslop” is processed, it costs nearly 2 hours (1 hour 56 minutes), equivalent to an intangible cost of $186/month/person. For an organization of 10,000 employees, the loss amounts to over $9 million/year.
- Workslop primarily occurs between peer colleagues (40%), from employees to managers (18%), and from managers to employees (16%). The most affected industries: professional services and technology.
- Social impact: 53% of recipients feel annoyed, 38% confused, 22% offended. About half rated colleagues who sent workslop as less creative, less trustworthy, and less intelligent than before. 42% considered them less reliable, 37% less intelligent. 32% were less willing to collaborate with the sender again.
- Workslop also erodes collaboration: employees have to spend time interpreting, editing, or redoing work, creating doubt and tension in work relationships. This is an “invisible tax” on productivity and internal trust.
- Proposed solutions: leaders need to avoid “AI everywhere slogans,” instead establishing clear guidelines for AI use; encouraging a “pilot mindset” (proactive, optimistic) instead of a “passenger mindset” (passive, work-avoidant). AI should be seen as a collaborative tool, not a shortcut.
📌 Workslop – AI-generated content that looks complete but is hollow, lacks context, and shifts the burden of processing to colleagues – accounts for 15.4% of work content, causing a loss of $186/month/person and over $9 million/year for an organization of 10,000 people. About half rated colleagues who sent workslop as less creative, less trustworthy, and less intelligent than before. To effectively leverage AI, leaders need to avoid “AI everywhere slogans” and instead establish clear guidelines for AI use. AI should be seen as a collaborative tool, not a shortcut.
