Key Takeaways
- AI productivity gains only happen when employees know how to use it correctly, otherwise, you get "workslop."
- AI fluency (discernment, fact-checking, critical thinking) separates productive AI use from low-quality, incomplete output.
- Cornerstone offers six training programs to build real AI skills across all levels of an organization.
AI can help us accomplish so much, but we still need to cultivate skills to use it. According to a study, employees are 33% more productive in each hour that they use generative AI. Sounds great, right? But that productivity gain only materializes if employees know how to use AI correctly in the first place.
According to the Harvard Business Review, some may use AI to create "workslop," AI-generated content that looks like good work but actually isn't good enough to finish a task or contribute to a project. This generated content may be incomplete or contain mistakes that take more time to fix, leading to an estimated two hours of extra work per incident.
How can organizations avoid workslop?
The problem starts with the wrong question. Employees who ask, "What can AI do for me?" are the ones producing workslop. The better question is, "What can I do with AI?" You can use an AI chatbot to brainstorm ideas for a project, but you need to know what information to feed it to get something useful back. AI can write a newsletter in seconds, but you still need to know the intended tone and audience, and how to evaluate the output against both.
That requires AI fluency: the ability to work with AI, critique its outputs, and use it ethically. Skills like discernment (spotting bias in an AI's answer) and fact-checking (verifying what it gives you is actually true) are what separate productive AI use from workslop.
Preventing workslop with Cornerstone
Cornerstone offers training that builds exactly these skills, across six programs worth knowing about.
Grovo: Writing with AI
An 11-course microlearning program covering how to work with generative AI chatbots, what they are, where they fall short, and how to use them without switching your brain off. Courses cover comparing and summarizing articles, brainstorming and refining ideas, editing for clarity or specific audiences, and practicing presentation skills, all with an AI chatbot alongside you.
Cornerstone Originals: Glossary AI
Bite-sized lessons, each under 60 seconds, that define the AI terms employees keep hearing but may not fully understand. The newest courses cover things like scheduling meetings with an AI agent or using vibe coding to build a website. Easy to look up, easy to rewatch.
Assemble You: AI challenges we should all know about
A program that helps employees navigate the harder side of AI use: errors, biases, and the risk of over-reliance on generated outputs. It teaches employees how to refine prompts, maintain critical thinking, and use AI responsibly rather than reflexively.
Cornerstone Originals: AI podcasts
Interviews with experts on how to rethink AI use, for leaders and individual contributors alike. Topics include creating real AI opportunities for teams, building an ethical AI culture, and AI "self-defense." Episodes run 40 to 60 minutes, with 10 to 15-minute cuts available when time is short.
MadeCraft: Using AI to build a strategic mindset
Led by author, consultant, and marketing expert Jim Sterne, this course covers how AI can sharpen decision-making and strategic planning. It gives practical examples across business functions, from market research to product development, and looks at how to keep pace with AI as it keeps advancing.
Grovo: AI and machine learning
A 5-course series on how technologies like neural networks and deep learning are finding their way into everything from chatbots to fitness apps to coffee makers, and what that means for the future of work. It also addresses how AI can produce biased results and what to do about it.
Workslop comes down to skills, and the good news is that skills can be learned. If you're curious about what else is available, discover learning without limits with Cornerstone Content.
