It is a pressing issue in almost every organisation: The introduction and use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is increasingly becoming part of everyday working life in companies and organisations. For employees, this development is often associated with a sense of threat. Dr Erik Hermann, marketing expert at the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), and his US colleagues Prof Stefano Puntoni (Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania) and Prof Carey K. Morewedge (Questrom School of Business, Boston University) are researching where this comes from and what can be done to counteract it. In the Harvard Business Review, they have now published the article "Why Gen AI Feels So Threatening to Workers. And what leaders can do to ease the anxiety".
Whether the introduction of GenAI is experienced as an opportunity or a threat depends on whether the basic psychological needs for competence, autonomy and connectedness are satisfied, says Dr Erik Hermann, commenting on the results of his study. If managers and executives disregard these fundamental human needs and introduce GenAI on a mandatory basis without consultation or training, employees can experience this as a loss of competence and control as well as social alienation.
"The introduction of GenAI does not necessarily fail because of the technology, but because of the psychological reactions of employees. If managers ignore the basic human needs of their employees, even the best and most user-friendly GenAI application can be perceived as a threat and fail," says Erik Hermann. In response to these psychological threats, Hermann and his colleagues have developed the AWARE framework for executives and management. AWARE stands for
- Acknowledge (recognising the psychological needs of employees),
- Watch (paying attention to positive and, above all, negative coping strategies),
- Align (adapt training and support systems to the psychological needs of employees),
- Redesign (redesign roles, so that employees and GenAI can complement each other) and
- Empower (empower employees through transparency and participation).
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You can find the full interview with Dr Erik Hermann at:
Viadrina Newsportal