A new study by Duke University has uncovered a surprising risk tied to the growing use of AI tools in the workplace: your reputation might take a hit, even if your performance improves.
Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the research found that employees using tools like ChatGPT or Gemini were often perceived as lazy, less competent, and more replaceable. This “social evaluation penalty” was consistent across four experiments involving over 4,400 people.
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The study showed that these negative perceptions were especially strong among managers and peers who did not use AI themselves. However, when AI use was directly relevant to job tasks, the reputational damage was less severe—highlighting the importance of context.
Interestingly, those familiar with AI were more forgiving toward AI users, while many workers admitted to hiding their use of such tools out of fear—a behavior dubbed “secret cyborging” by experts.
As AI becomes more common in offices, the study suggests a new challenge for professionals: balancing the benefits of AI with the risk of being seen as less capable.
