Study Finds AI Use Lowers Managers' Trust in Staff
Research in The Leadership Quarterly links employees' large language model use to reduced supervisory trust and weaker performance and promotion assessments.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Remote Work
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A six-study paper published in The Leadership Quarterly found that employees who use large language models face lower managerial trust. Supervisors trusted employees who worked independently 68 per cent of the time, compared with 24 per cent for AI-generated output.
Why it matters
Lower supervisory trust was associated with poorer perceived performance and reduced perceptions of promotability, which bears directly on how AI use may affect careers. The findings suggest that organisational norms about AI may shape how that trust penalty is applied.
Across six studies, supervisors trusted independently completed work 68 per cent of the time, versus 24 per cent when the output was AI-generated. The field study measured supervisors' reported trust in students who used LLMs, and the extraction does not give its sample size.
The players
The Leadership Quarterly
The Leadership Quarterly is an academic journal that publishes peer-reviewed research on leadership and organisational behaviour.
The details
Researchers found that supervisors were less likely to accept an employee's account of task time or to rely on that employee's information when AI output was involved. When companies explicitly encouraged LLM use, the negative effect on supervisory trust was no longer statistically significant, but the penalty remained where AI use was prohibited or where no clear policy existed.
Timeline
The research paper was published on 6 November 2026.
Market Landscape
The study adds experimental evidence to a growing body of research on how generative AI tools are reshaping evaluations of knowledge workers. It shows that the reputational effect of AI use depends on whether employers have made their expectations about the tools explicit.
Employees who use AI tools may face lower trust from supervisors, which can affect how their performance and promotion prospects are judged. Clear workplace policies on AI use may influence whether that penalty applies.
The takeaway
Employees who use AI should consider how their employer's stated policies shape the way their work is perceived. Clear communication about acceptable AI use may help reduce the trust penalty identified in the research.
Further reading
Explore more on Remote Work to see how workplace trust and evaluation are changing.
Source note: This article includes information reported by HR Katha.
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Would you trust a coworker less knowing they used ChatGPT for their work?
