One in three Australian workers are using artificial intelligence to get ahead without telling their employer, and even more say using the technology makes them feel like they are cheating.
But their guilty secret is increasing productivity in the workplace, a study has found, and businesses could benefit more if they openly supported its use.
Software provider Employment Hero released the findings on Tuesday from a study of more than 2600 employees and employers, which also found many workers were training themselves to use AI tools with material found online.
The results comes after the National AI Centre reported almost half of Australian organisations were adopting the technology, but 19 per cent said they were still unsure how to use it.
The report, called AI Paradox at Work, surveyed more than 1000 Australian business leaders and 1600 workers about their use and experiences with artificial intelligence tools.
It found three in four Australian workers thought AI had improved their productivity (75 per cent) and almost as many said it had improved the quality of their work (74 per cent).
But one in three employees used AI tools in secret, without company approval, and employers reported many staff were using personal AI accounts at work (44 per cent).
More than half of workers using AI were teaching themselves how to do it, Employment Hero Asia Pacific managing director James Keene said, which could lead to poor outcomes.
"Most of them are going straight to TikTok and YouTube and various blogs and websites rather than any company-owned material about how to actually use AI in the best way," he told AAP.
"If you'd imagined this five years ago, surreptitiously employees having to go to their own sources to make them more productive for the business they are working for, it's a pretty interesting place we find ourselves."
Many employees were hiding their AI use out of guilt as two in five said using the tools felt like cheating, Mr Keene said, while others were concerned about job losses prompted by AI.
Businesses could change these attitudes by openly discussing ways to use the technology, he said, and setting clear guidelines.
"There's a real lesson for employers here, which is that if you genuinely want to be encouraging your employees to be using this technology, you need to be demonstrating it to them yourself," he said.
Unclear guidance could create a stressful environment for workers, UNSW Sydney researcher Dr Anna Kiaos said, but one that could be fixed by leadership.
"The only thing holding the workforce back now isn't the technology, it's uncertainty about whether employees are actually allowed to use it in the ways that work for them," she said.
