Exaggerating to your boss about how much you're using AI at work? You're not alone.

In the age of AI changing the way people work, some workers feel like they’re under a spotlight, proving their skills with the new technology.

That pressure can lead to what workforce intelligence AI company Visier calls “performative AI.” Visier found in a survey of US employees that almost half said they’ve exaggerated either how much they use it or their expertise with it, either to colleagues or leadership.

Forty-five percent of workers felt pressure to leverage AI even when they’re not confident about how to do so effectively.

Andrea Derler, principal of research and value at Visier, said performative AI happens because of pressure for workers to show their experience with the tech.

That pressure comes from things like employer mandates or being judged by how productive they are with AI tools compared to others. “People feel they have to constantly prove how great they are with AI and how much value they can create with AI,” she said.

Only 28% of employees said their leaders “fully understand” how workers use this tech.

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Derler said leadership may feel pressure to show investors that they’re making AI work for them, and other employees may feel pressure because of fears of job loss.

The AI jobpocalypse hasn’t happened — at least not yet — but outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas reported in June that AI is a prominent reason for job cuts.

Derler said the performative aspect can be a waste of time because organizations don’t learn how AI is actually effective and where it falls short.

Fifty-nine percent of workers were either uncertain or didn’t believe their employer had a plan for how the tech would affect the organization. “Performative AI use seems to line up with a trust gap: employees are unsure of the organization’s AI plan, and unconvinced that leaders understand it themselves,” the Visier report said.

Derler said that before companies make AI requirements, executives and managers should first learn how it can be most valuable to employees.

They should encourage people to talk about what worked well and what didn’t, and to discuss mistakes, so that people can be transparent about where AI does and doesn’t add value for the kind of work they do.

Organizations can also help people feel more confident about what they can do with AI.

Visier found that about a third of workers would love more AI training and chances to upskill.

Some people also want more transparency — 18% of employees expect better communication about AI’s effects on workers.

Workers may want to make it well known how they leverage AI at the workplace, given the demand for AI knowledge across many companies.

Some people are “loud working,” making their skills and accomplishments well known, whether to their manager and company stakeholders or to a broader audience, such as by posting on LinkedIn.

Job seekers are also playing up their AI usage.

Employers would ask Cristina Estupiñán, who spent years in software development and was looking for work after a layoff, about her enthusiasm for AI during interviews. “I have to make up something about what excites me about AI because, frankly, nothing really excites me about AI,” Estupiñán said.

Still, those who take the leap and embrace the new tech often find AI helpful at work.

A January to March survey from Jobs for the Future, The Families & Workers Fund, and Gallup found 63% of US employees said AI has helped them complete tasks faster, and 56% said it has helped them find more creative solutions.

Forty-six percent said it helps them produce higher-quality work.

A post from Gallup’s Jeffrey Jones said workers who use AI daily or weekly “are far more likely than irregular users to report AI benefits at work.” For instance, 79% of AI users who use it regularly said it helps complete tasks faster, compared to 38% of other workers.

For helping produce higher-quality work, the divide was 59% vs 26%. “Continued measurement of AI usage at work, employee influence over technology implementation, and job quality will be important to understand how AI is augmenting, reshaping and replacing employee tasks — and what those changes mean for jobs and workers over time,” Jones said.