- Many employees secretly use artificial intelligence tools despite company restrictions
- Employees sometimes use their personal devices to hide AI use
- Larger organizations report higher levels of unauthorized AI use
Artificial intelligence is becoming a routine part of office work, even when employees believe company policies prohibit its use.
New research from PagerDuty claims that two-thirds (66%) of office professionals have used AI tools for work despite thinking those tools were not allowed.
The findings suggest that unauthorized use of AI is no longer isolated, especially as workers become more confident in their own understanding of the technology.
Workers are increasingly hiding the use of AI from employers
The study found that among employees who have used AI for work, many acknowledged taking actions that conflict with the company’s internal rules.
Unauthorized use was most common in organizations employing at least 1,500 people, where 72% admitted to using AI despite believing it was prohibited.
In smaller companies, the figure remained substantial, at 60%, indicating that the practice spreads to different work environments.
Secrecy often accompanies AI adoption in the workplace, with one-third of AI users saying they would deliberately avoid disclosing their AI use to managers or supervisors.
About 30% cited restrictive company policies or concern about coworkers’ reactions as reasons for keeping their AI use private, while 29% said uncertainty around company rules contributed to their reluctance to disclose those activities.
Perceptions of inconsistent application of policies may also contribute to the use of AI in the workplace.
While 86% reported working in organizations with AI policies, 81% believed leadership operates under different standards.
That sentiment was especially common in larger organizations, where workers were more likely to feel that executives were treated differently regarding decisions related to AI and policy compliance.
Most workers (72%) believe they understand how to use AI in their jobs better than the teams managing AI governance.
At billion-dollar companies, that figure rose to 80%, while senior managers were more likely than lower-level managers to express similar views.
With so much confidence in their own judgment about AI, workers will likely bypass formal restrictions and treat policy violations as reasonable workarounds.
Hidden use of AI raises concerns about company information
Unauthorized AI activity often extends beyond simple tasks and 43% of respondents admitted to entering emails or work-related data into public AI systems.
Those tools operate outside of internal corporate environments, raising potential concerns about how information is handled in the workplace after it is sent.
The sharing of sensitive information was not limited to routine communications, as more than a third of respondents said they had entered customer information into public AI systems.
Another 31% acknowledged uploading financial information, confidential company documents or internal business strategies to these platforms.
Additional findings showed that 44% used AI tools to circumvent the limitations of approved work software, while 38% shared AI-assisted work without disclosing it.
Furthermore, some workers even access these artificial intelligence or LLM tools on their personal devices to hide any traces.
More than half of those caught violating AI policies received informal counseling, while 48% faced formal disciplinary action.
This suggests that organizations are still struggling to balance law enforcement with the increasing reliance on AI tools in the workplace.
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