The New Intelligence Shift Part 2: AI Is Everywhere. Talking About It Is Still Catching Up

The Unseen AI World That Exists Today in Our Work
While AI was once the exclusive domain of tech-savvy individuals, today it is simply another way of doing business in modern society. Consultants have begun to utilize AI in testing new scenarios. Educators are refining lesson plans by utilizing AI. Writers are shaping drafts with AI tools. Entrepreneurs are able to create prototypes faster than ever before. According to surveys conducted by Gallup and Pew Research Center, most Americans are aware that a larger percentage of American workers now use AI in their daily job activities. While the widespread acceptance of AI may not be surprising, the lack of open conversation regarding its implementation is unexpected. Hence, there is less transparency of AI use than its impact would suggest.

The Invisible AI Tool That Works Behind the Scenes
Many of us today utilize AI as an invisible tool - always there to help but almost never acknowledged. For example, in a meeting, article or presentation, those involved typically do not mention that AI assisted in creating the results shown. I see this trend increasingly evident in the students' assignments I review. Students today are producing polished, structured and articulate pieces of work, and they rarely identify the role AI played in the completion of these works. This divide between "doing" and disclosing (the fact that one used AI) tells me something significant - the advancement of AI far exceeds the development of socially accepted norms governing conversations related to its use.

Why Talking About AI Use Can Feel Personally Risky
The reluctance to openly acknowledge one's use of AI is typically not due to a concern over ethics or laws, but rather because of a concern over how others will perceive your work. In many professions and educational institutions, "real" work is defined by visible effort and/or the individual being the creator of the work. Those tools which enhance thinking can be viewed as a shortcut to completing tasks instead of an aid. When individuals publicly disclose their use of AI, it can cause questions to arise about their ability to create original work, or whether they are competent in their profession. A lack of understanding of norms can lead to individuals feeling that acknowledging the use of AI will elicit a negative reaction from others, and therefore silence appears to be the safer option. Research indicates that people who acknowledge AI assistance are frequently viewed as less trustworthy - despite the quality of the completed work remaining the same. Although baseless and unwarranted, these individuals were viewed with the lens of a perceived lack of sincerity and a vice of unethicalness.  

What We Are Actually Protecting When We Hesitate
Ultimately, this debate is centered on one's identity as a capable, thoughtful, and skilled person. Psychology explains why this is so. Research has demonstrated that autonomy, competence, and belonging are fundamental to human motivation and well-being. AI can be perceived to threaten all three elements: autonomy if the individual views the AI as controlling the work, competence if the skill utilized to complete the work is questioned, and belonging if the individual perceives that acknowledging the use of AI could result in others viewing them negatively. Therefore, the reluctance to openly acknowledge one's use of AI is a natural human response to the uncertainty surrounding the role of AI in our lives.

Building More Open Conversations Around AI
The answer is neither total openness nor total silence when it comes to communicating the utilization of AI in the workplace. Instead, we need to develop norms that promote clarity, transparency and honesty, specifically through the discussion of function and not fear – the inputs AI provides to the process, and the human elements that architect the overall development. For example, saying "I used AI to generate multiple options, and I then reviewed each option to apply my own judgment and verification," illustrates how modern work is accomplished. As AI continues to become a part of the fabric of everyday life, developing the skills required to communicate about it in an honest and responsible manner is becoming a civic responsibility. Using AI does not eliminate the right of an individual to claim authorship of their work; it merely modifies the way that work is produced. When our norms evolve to reflect the changing nature of work that includes AI, stating that you utilized AI will no longer feel like a confession; it will feel like professional maturity.

References

• Gallup. (2025). AI use at work rises.

• Pew Research Center. (2025). About 1 in 5 U.S. workers now use AI in their job.

• University of Arizona. (2025). Being honest about using AI at work makes people trust you less.

• American Psychological Association. (2025). Self-determination theory: A quarter century of human flourishing.