“I used GPT to help me brainstorm a difficult conversation with a team member who was radio silent for weeks. GPT helped with suggestions on how to begin the conversation, and ways I might influence this team member to communicate, and identified some approaches to avoid.” “I was setting up a programme management team so asked GPT for help with suggesting roles and responsibilities. I used the suggestions as a thought-starter and was a very useful shortcut.” LEVEL 3 Here, GPT supported employees with four types of tasks: 1 Strategic planning and decision- making. 2 Problem-solving and risk assessment. 3 Collaborative and strategic communication. 4 Creative and innovative work. These tasks required significant cognitive effort from the user and often involved complex decision-making processes. GPT’s role was more as a collaborator in strategic thinking, helping shape ideas and decisions that go beyond routine or creative work. GPT provided insights, generated strategic suggestions, and helped navigate complex scenarios. Users demonstrated judgement and engagement in decision-making as they evaluated, prioritised, and applied GPT’s insights to broader business or strategic contexts. GPT not only augmented users’ abilities but also changed the nature of their role within the organisation structures and workflows. Employees told us: “I was preparing a roadmap for the next few years. I imported the business scorecard into GPT and asked for opportunities for improvements and development. It suggested several ideas, some of which we hadn’t previously thought of. AI is helping us shape our long-term strategy.” “During a workshop, AI helped us outline our vision, problem statement, and operational model. It gave us a great starting point for strategic planning.” “GPT contributes to problem-solving by generating multiple scenarios and solutions.” “We were brainstorming ideas for a product design workshop, and AI helped us generate a focused agenda and questions. This allowed us to spend more time thinking about the big picture and less time on the logistics.” KEY INSIGHTS FOR MANAGEMENT Our study shows employees use AI to support decision-making but also in higher-level thinking, as a strategic partner and to amplify human creativity. This means AI is already aiding and operating in cognitive managerial work. The future of work requires a synergetic and harmonious relationship between human creativity and AI's capacity to support and amplify that creativity. However, the level of control and authority over final decisions by humans can become blurred and this can undermine efforts to retain AI as a complement, rather than a replacement for human judgment. This raises important considerations around trust, control and the balance between human oversight and AI autonomy. AI is embedded and enveloped within the human and social layers of organising. It is important to recognise that AI is not in the realm of traditional IT, and it does not follow typical processes of design and development. This means that we as users are constantly shaping its features through our use of the tool and other ongoing digital interactions. A key characteristic of AI is that it responds to user needs and leverages user data. From this perspective, it is user and employee centric. This means that we are not passive onlookers, and this is true also for us as researchers when reporting our insights and proposing visions for future use and adoption. It is within our power to shape and inform our joint evolution between humans and AI. RECOMMENDATIONS We recommend that organisations approach AI adoption from the ground up and engage openly with employees on learning about use cases and their effects in real time and in a dynamic way. This means decommissioning established IT frameworks and rollout plans, and allowing experimentation and organic learning instead. Further, we recommend constructing visions and scenarios collectively with the workforce that inform and shape the development and embedding of AI. The key areas that should be engaged in this process are HR, Innovation, and Risk and Security. HR needs to evolve from using AI to manage internal processes, to supporting AI rollout across all business functions. Innovation should become a top priority for senior management, supporting the organisation to absorb, redesign and recapacitate the workforce in a more dynamic and responsive mode. Thirdly, the Risk and Security function needs to be involved in creating spaces for emergent new forms of organising that challenge established risk frameworks but that are essential for the long-term evolution and survival of the organisation. FIFTY FOUR DEGREES | 9 João Baptista is a Professor and Chair in Information Systems in the Department of Management Science, and Director of the Centre for Technological Futures. His research focuses on the adoption of modern technologies such as AI in the workplace. j.baptista@lancaster.ac.uk
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