Artificial intelligence may be everywhere at work, but workers are not exactly trusting it. Sixty percent of Australian workers say they have personally caught an AI tool making a mistake on the job, according to new research from Appian released Thursday.
The Appian AI Trust study paints a picture of quiet unease. More than one in five respondents said employees at their organization are discouraged from challenging AI recommendations or decisions — and only 14 percent said they fully trust the AI-generated outputs used where they work.
The errors are not trivial. One in five workers said the most significant AI mistake they encountered caused a customer service issue, while 13 percent reported operational disruption. Almost half said the worst error they saw carried consequences beyond minor inconvenience, including financial, compliance or reputational damage.
Appian's Charlie Hutchinson, senior vice-president for Asia-Pacific and Japan, said the findings show a lose-lose dynamic: employees either avoid AI or waste time double-checking everything it produces, wiping out the productivity gains it was meant to deliver — or they act on outputs they suspect are wrong because they do not feel able to push back.
