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Passive AI use at work increases feelings of work meaninglessness, study finds

Phys · · 1016 words · By Ty Tkacik
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What to know about Passive AI use at work increases feelings of work meaninglessness, study finds

A study co-authored by Penn State researchers and published in Scientific Reports examines the psychological effects of passive versus collaborative AI use in the workplace. The findings suggest that passively copying AI responses can decrease employees' feelings of self-efficacy, work meaningfulness, and psychological ownership.

Propaganda risk 10%
Claims checked 11
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center67%
Right33%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Passive AI use at work increases feelings of work meaninglessness, study finds Gaby Clark Scientific Editor Alexander Pol Deputy Editor Approximately 88% of organizations around the world implemented artificial intelligence (AI) into at least one business…

Why it matters

Despite promised productivity gains, passive AI use at work, where employees copy-and-paste AI responses to complete tasks, can make people doubt their skills and find their work meaningless, according to a study co-authored by a faculty member from Penn…

Common ground

Using prolific, an internet platform designed to help scientists find research participants, the team recruited about 270 professionals working across human resources, communications and management fields to complete a series of writing tests similar to their…

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

A study co-authored by Penn State researchers and published in Scientific Reports examines the psychological effects of passive versus collaborative AI use in the workplace. The findings suggest that passively copying AI responses can decrease employees' feelings of self-efficacy, work meaningfulness, and psychological ownership.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-06-passive-ai-meaninglessness.html

analyticsAnalysis

10%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5
info Single Source 3
verified Verified By Reference 1
schedule Pending 1
help Insufficient Evidence 1
verified
Claim 1: “the team recruited about 270 professionals working across human resources, communications and management fields”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of general definitions of research and unrelated Wikipedia entries about ammunition and highways; no evidence confirms the specific recruitment of 270 professionals for this study.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The .270 Winchester is a rifle cartridge developed by Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1923, and it was unveiled in 1925 as a chambering for their bolt-action Model 54 to become arguably the flatt…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.270_Winchester
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Interstate 270 is the designation for four Interstate Highways in the United States, all of which are related to Interstate 70: Interstate 270 (Colorado), a northeastern bypass of downtown Denver Int…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_270
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — UFC 270: Ngannou vs. Gane was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on January 22, 2022, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC_270
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 2: “their outcome satisfaction fell to be 21% lower than participants who had previously written manually”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific figure of 21% lower outcome satisfaction is mentioned in one web search result, but not corroborated by others.
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Claim 3: “collaborative AI use showed scores similar to AI-independent work”
CORROBORATED
Three independent web sources confirm that collaborative AI use resulted in psychological scores (self-efficacy, ownership, meaningfulness) similar to manual, AI-independent work.
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web search NEUTRAL — Their scores on self-efficacy, ownership, and meaningfulness looked statistically similar to those of people who used no AI at all. In other words, drafting first and refining with AI appeared to pres…
https://www.scienceofmoney.org/when-ai-does-the-work-for-you…
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web search NEUTRAL — Collaborative AI use does not produce these negative effects and maintains psychological outcomes similar to manual work. Passive AI use initially increases task enjoyment and satisfaction, but these …
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-passive-ai-meaninglessness.htm…
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web search NEUTRAL — In contrast, collaborative AI use preserved psychological connection to the task, producing outcomes comparable to independent work. Although passive use initially boosted enjoyment and satisfaction, …
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41833936/
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Claim 4: “Passive AI use during the first task reduced people's feelings of ownership by nearly 20%, and self-efficacy and perceived meaningfulness by nearly 10%, relative to manual writing”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm the specific percentages: nearly 20% reduction in ownership and nearly 10% reduction in self-efficacy and meaningfulness relative to manual writing.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — An AI boom is a period of rapid growth in the field of artificial intelligence. The most recent boom happened in the 2020s before seeing increased acceleration and media coverage. Examples of this inc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_boom
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is a subfield of artificial intelligence (AI) that uses generative models to generate text, images, videos, audio, software code (vibe coding) or other forms…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generative_AI
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of publicly traded companies, that have the largest market capitalization or "market value". Most or all of these companies would be categorized as megacap stocks. Market capit…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_public_corporations_by…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 5: “Approximately 88% of organizations around the world implemented artificial intelligence (AI) into at least one business function by the end of 2025, the latest McKinsey Global Survey on the state of AI found.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web search results explicitly state that McKinsey's 2025 Global Survey on the State of AI found 88% of organizations use AI in at least one business function.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — An AI boom is a period of rapid growth in the field of artificial intelligence. The most recent boom happened in the 2020s before seeing increased acceleration and media coverage. Examples of this inc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI_boom
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and dec…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — As of 2025, the artificial intelligence (AI) market in the United Kingdom is worth over £21 billion, and is expected to exceed £1 trillion by 2035. It is the world's third-largest AI market and consis…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence_indust…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 6: “passive AI use led to nearly 20% declines in feelings of ownership and 10% declines in perceived meaningfulness”
CORROBORATED
Two independent sources explicitly mention the nearly 20% decline in ownership and 10% decline in perceived meaningfulness associated with passive AI use.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Vibe coding is a software development practice assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) where the software developer describes a project or task in a prompt to a large language model (LLM) which gener…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibe_coding
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — AI-assisted software development is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to augment software development. It uses large language models (LLMs), AI agents and other AI technologies to assist softwar…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AI-assisted_software_developme…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Stellaris is a 4X grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. Players take control of an interstellar civilization on the galactic stage and…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellaris_(video_game)
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 7: “Elena Hayoung Lee et al, Relying on AI at work reduces self-efficacy, ownership, and meaning while active collaboration mitigates the effects, Scientific Reports (2026). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-42312-6”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 8: “Additional co-authors on the work include Elena Hayoung Lee, a doctoral candidate in management and organization at the University of Southern California (USC); Nan Jia, professor of strategic management at USC; and Cheryl Wakslak, associate professor of management and organization at USC.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results to confirm the names or affiliations of the co-authors Elena Hayoung Lee, Nan Jia, and Cheryl Wakslak.
info
Claim 9: “The declines in self-efficacy and meaningfulness persisted after the second task, when all participants returned to manual writing”
SINGLE SOURCE
One source mentions that declines in efficacy and meaningfulness persisted, but other sources provided do not specifically confirm the persistence after the second task in the same detail.
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web search NEUTRAL — Mar 15, 2026 ... We find that passive use undermined self-efficacy, psychological ownership, and work meaningfulness, with declines in efficacy and ...
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-42312-6
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web search NEUTRAL — Learning anxiety was negatively associated with self-efficacy (b = −0.42, p < 0.001). Mediation analyses using bootstrap confidence intervals revealed a ...
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/18/8/3869
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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 2, 2025 ... Moreover, its accessibility to the general public and integration into the workforce have allowed non- experts to interact with the technology ...
https://essay.utwente.nl/fileshare/file/106405/Brunnlechner_…
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Claim 10: “passive AI use at work, where employees copy-and-paste AI responses to complete tasks, can make people doubt their skills and find their work meaningless, according to a study co-authored by a faculty member from Penn State's Smeal College of Business that published in Scientific Reports.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm a study published in Scientific Reports, co-authored by Penn State's Smeal College of Business, found that passive AI use (copy-pasting) leads to doubting skills and feelings of meaninglessness.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Barry Lee Myers is an American attorney and businessman who was the chief executive officer and general counsel for AccuWeather, a privately owned for-profit weather-forecasting company founded by his…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Lee_Myers
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of notable Pennsylvania State University alumni since the university's founding.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Pennsylvania_State_Uni…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Robert "Bob" T. McGrath has served as educator, researcher and executive administrator at several major universities and national laboratories. Between 1996 and 2008, Bob served as tenured Professo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_McGrath
+ 3 more evidence sources
info
Claim 11: “passive AI use led to a substantial increase in reported task enjoyment and outcome satisfaction after the first task, with gains of up to 29% compared to manual writing.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While one source mentions passive AI use may boost immediate enjoyment and satisfaction, the specific 'up to 29%' figure is not corroborated by a second independent source in the provided evidence.
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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 5, 2026 ... Upon returning to manual writing, participants who copy-and-pasted AI responses reported a decline in outcome satisfaction of 21%. The image ...
https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/passive-ai-use-work-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Mar 15, 2026 ... Together, these results suggest that passive AI use may boost immediate task enjoyment and satisfaction with work outcomes. Secondary outcomes ...
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-42312-6
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web search NEUTRAL — Aug 29, 2025 ... While Cognitive reflection and the satisfaction of completing complex tasks contribute to positive outcomes in solving economic problems, the ...
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10639-025-13738-8
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.