The AI Trust Penalty: Why Bosses Trust Employees Who Use AI Less

Bosses took an employee’s word without checking 68% of the time when the person worked alone, and 24% of the time when AI was involved.

The penalty was biggest under AI bans or no stated policy, and smallest where leaders openly encouraged AI.

The fix: write a one-paragraph AI norm, judge the work instead of the tool, and make “show your work” normal for everyone.