# How AI is breaking up workplace teams > Workers who turn to AI instead of colleagues erode trust and coordination, risking millions in turnover. - Title: How AI is breaking up workplace teams | Shortify - Summary: Workers who turn to AI instead of colleagues erode trust and coordination, risking millions in turnover. Employees using AI to replace colleague interactions… - Keywords: artificial intelligence, workplace dynamics, team coordination, employee trust, workplace relationships, employee turnover, organizational culture, psychological safety, business, management, breaking, workplace - Source: Harvard Business Review — https://hbr.org/2026/10/team-dynamics-weaken-when-employees-turn-to-ai-instead-of-colleagues - Published: 2026-10-15T12:15:51+00:00 - Read time: 3 min - Topics: artificial intelligence, workplace dynamics, team coordination, employee trust, workplace relationships, employee turnover, organizational culture, psychological safety, business, management ## Teams run on shared memory Groups build transactive memory systems: shared understanding of who knows what. A Formula one pit crew exemplifies this, coordinating in under two seconds. ## Researchers surveyed desk workers Psychologists and communication scholars surveyed one thousand thirty three U.S. full-time desk workers on intact project teams across over twenty industries. ## AI use boosts perceived expertise The more workers used AI or perceived their teams used it, the more they felt teammates had specialized and unique knowledge. ## But trust and coordination erode The more workers turned to AI instead of teammates, the more their trust in each other and ability to coordinate seemed to erode. > AI has made my work easier, so I can focus more on working by myself. However, it means I talk and work less with my teammates, which sometimes makes teamwork feel disconnected and affects building trust and understanding among us. ## Adoption focused on individuals Organizations concentrated on AI adoption at individual level rather than team level, incentivizing how many individuals used AI well, not whether teams worked well together. ## AI replaces human conversation AI is no longer sitting between collegial communication; it is outright replacing communications and stunting the growth of team relationships. ## Displacement causes relationslipping Displacement, going to AI instead of a human colleague, produces relationslipping: the pernicious weakening of a team's working relationships. ## Trust and coordination drop sharply Teams where displacement is the norm experience more than a twenty percent drop in team coordination at twenty two point three percent and team trust at twenty one point nine percent. ## Workers lose track of expertise AI use separates apparent expertise from awareness of whose knowledge produced it. Workers cannot identify the source of someone's expertise or maintain a map of who to go to for what. > I have absolutely no idea what my colleagues are thinking or doing because the generative AI does most of their work. ## Workers feel isolated and hurt People experience displacement on a human level: they feel isolated. One respondent felt hurt that her colleague now gets writing feedback from AI instead of her. > It was a good way to connect with a colleague and chat more. I miss having those connections and I feel lonelier now. ## Three reasons workers displace One in five desk workers acknowledged turning to AI over a teammate. Beliefs about AI, team climate, and sycophantic AI design drive displacement. ## Optimism and trust in AI matter People optimistic about AI are nearly three times more likely to displace a teammate. Those with high trust in AI are twice as likely to displace. ## Low psychological safety drives it People with low psychological safety on their team are more than twice as likely to displace a teammate with AI. > I use AI when I do not want to be thought of as an idiot or unintelligent. Rather than risk being judged by asking a question that they think I should already know the answer to, I use AI in these situations. ## AI is agreeable and validating Leading AI models affirmed users' actions forty nine percent more often than humans did, even when users described deception or harmful behaviors. ## Displaced workers feel replaceable Nearly half of surveyed workers reported teammates displaced them with AI. Displaced workers are nearly half as likely to feel they matter to colleagues. > I feel my skills are less needed by my teammates as AI helps them. ## Turnover could cost millions A ten thousand employee company with fifty two percent AI adoption could see roughly six percentage points extra turnover, or two hundred forty three departures beyond baseline attrition. ## Replacement costs exceed twenty five million Assuming average salary of ninety nine thousand dollars and midpoint replacement cost, increased turnover could cost the organization more than twenty five million dollars. ## Increase asynchronous communication Daily contact with teams buffers against displacement's negative effects. Regular asynchronous communication shows twenty eight percent increase in coordination and nineteen percent increase in team trust. ## Build psychological safety first Psychological safety makes asking a colleague feel as safe as asking a model. It enables the precise question-asking and experimentation that AI usage demands. ## Align incentives to team wins Leaders should design AI deployments that allow team members insight into each other's practices. Incentives should encourage AI-enabled teams rather than AI-literate individuals. ## Key takeaway Employees using AI to replace colleague interactions weaken team trust and coordination by 20 percent, risking significant turnover costs.