AIBU to think claiming credit for AI-generated feedback at work is unprofessional?

[MissyMooPoo2]

My workplace was already competitive and at times toxic - but AI has given my eager-to-progress colleagues another weapon to wield!

The bit that bothers me is the failure to attribute their newly found skills and ideas to the correct source. I recently prepared a report and a colleague (who wasn't even involved in the planned review but cc'd into the email to managers for information) took it upon themselves to put that report through AI and return it to everyone with 'her' comments pasted directly from ChatGPT - presented as her own suggestions.

I know the comments were AI-generated because, on noticing the comments looked so wildly different to her usual writing and thinking style, I uploaded the report myself, and ChatGPT provided almost identical feedback - literally word for word, along with a flawed argument based on misunderstanding of the text. So it was a bit of an own goal in the end for my colleague, but the deception still bothers me.

YABU: All (and even AI) is fair in the workplace these days
YANBU: This is unprofessional behaviour

Does your work place allow use of AI? Some are against it, some are all for it

It hasn't been discussed which is part of the problem. I think it's been assumed people just wouldn't pass AI off as their own.

I hope you replied to all pointing out the AI errors?

I think you should approach it in a way that isn't about her rubbish comments but more that she took your work and uploaded it to AI, so now it can use your report when it writes anything similar. In my workplace, the uploading and essentially giving away content for AI to copy is the main rule we shouldn't break.

So instead of saying how lazy she's been, you say that she didn't have the right to upload your work. It then is obvious she's also lazy, but it's an easier moral high ground to take.

Obviously you can't also say you uploaded it to check!

Does it bother you when colleagues use email instead of Royal Mail? Or when they use PowerPoint instead of scrawling their ideas down on an A1 flip chart? You wont lose your job to A.I. You'll lose it to someone who uses A.I

Email might be better for a quick message but not if I need to send a parcel. PowerPoint quicker for a formal presentation, but possibly overkill for making quick notes from a discussion (especially if I didn't want a formal record for confidentiality reasons). It's using the right tool for the right task.

If I want feedback on a piece of work, I want it from someone who knows the context in which it was produced and the aims of it. The AI that OPs manager used couldn't do the job well: as the OP noted, the feedback was misleading and not relevant. So it wasn't the right tool, and time was actually wasted here.

OP, I'd raise it with the manager directly, explaining that the feedback wasn't helpful and highlighting any confidentiality etc issues of running work product through an external AI.

Raising it with her manager was going through my mind but I wasn't sure if I was overreacting. The confidentiality issues would definitely apply to my work context.

It doesn't have to be the right tool. It does even have to be accurate. If it gives visibility and the boss likes the person, they won't care. If you've ever worked in the Civil service you'll know that most managers didn't get there by being good at their job, or even competent.

I think she's used the technology available to review the report. It's still her work. Presumably she'll have checked it all makes sense and is accurate, she's just saved some time.

If there are confidentiality issues I would raise it as a concern with her manager yes.

i don’t think it’s the using AI so much as the using it badly that is the issue here. If she’d have spotted the Ai errors for herself and only provided feedback that was correct it might have been helpful.

I would say they should be applauded for working smarter. Provided information is secure and throughly reviewed what is the issue? I use Co pilot at work for most of my admin jobs at work. What would have taken me hours to write up now takes minutes.

Agreed. OP - honestly, the lesson here is that you too should use AI to save time and enhance your work.

My workplace loves AI but more copilot and do we do get praise for using that. I used it to find some information recently and it was incredible. It did something it would have taken me years to learn! It depends what kind of AI I guess

If you think she's out of her depth/using AI inappropriately, can you reply to all asking her to clarify some of the comments in a context specific the project/subject material but too complicated for her to easily upload? Or praise a specific insight and ask her how she came to approach the question the way she did and what steps led her to her conclusions?

(Or you could just pretend you're on Reddit and "reply to all" on her email with "Bot!!" or "AI slop!!! Please downvote. Data centers use millions of gallons of water per day and are rapidly destroying the natural environment.")

Well it wasn’t “smarter” because the comments were incorrect. And it wasn’t copilot but ChatGTP to which a confidential report was uploaded.

…but you also uploaded the report?!

It was confidential TO ME.