Employers say AI makes workers faster — but it's also creating 'friction or mistrust,' report finds

In this articleArtificial intelligence has been touted for its ability to automate routine, high-volume tasks at record speed. But a new report finds the technology is also creating tension between employers and employees over its deployment.While 80% of human resources decision-makers polled by MetLife said AI tools are part of everyday tasks, and 83% said AI helps employees work faster, 67% said AI is "creating new points of friction and mistrust," according to a new report from the financial services firm."We heard concern about job dislocation," said Todd Katz, head of U.S. group benefits at MetLife. "We heard concern about the need to adapt, and so that's creating friction — friction between the employer and the employee."Here's a look at more stories on how to manage, grow and protect your money for the years ahead.More than half of employees surveyed, 61%, said they are worried about the ethical and safety risks of AI use, including bias, misinformation and a lack of accountability. Nearly as many, 59%, are concerned that it will make their jobs obsolete and 24% feel that they need to compete with AI at work, MetLife found.The MetLife study compiled data from three surveys: two with about 2,500 employees each, conducted in October 2025 and January 2026, and another in October 2025 with about 2,500 benefits decision-makers from large, medium and small companies. As AI reshapes careers by automating routine tasks, experts say it is more important for workers to develop "human" skills like strategic thinking.Alleviating workers' concerns has a great deal to do not only with technology itself, but also how companies introduce it and prepare their workforce for it, said Nela Richardson, chief economist for HR and payroll services company ADP. "It takes business processes. It takes change management. It takes leveling up your workforce, upskilling your talent, so that they are ready for these tools as well," she said.Some employees may not be up for the task yet. Another recent survey, from BetterUp Labs and Stanford Social Media Lab, found that 53% of U.S. workers said they had turned in "workslop" — which the research defines as "AI-generated content that looks good, but lacks substance.""It's low effort, low quality on the part of the person who is creating the AI-generated work, and it shifts the burden from the sender to the receiver," said Kate Niederhoffer, a social psychologist and chief scientist at BetterUp Labs, a research arm of the digital coaching platform. About 40% of workers said they'd received "workslop" in the last month, according to the survey, which was conducted in September. "It's adding extra burden, extra time, extra toll, extra judgment and a lower likelihood of working with the people who are creating it. That's really the problem here," Niederhoffer said. It makes it harder for colleagues to collaborate, she said, and can also contribute to mistrust. SIGN UP: Money 101 is an 8-week learning course on financial freedom, delivered weekly to your inbox. Sign up here. It is also available in Spanish.Got a confidential news tip? We want to hear from you.Sign up for free newsletters and get more CNBC delivered to your inboxGet this delivered to your inbox, and more info about our products and services.© 2026 Versant Media, LLC.

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