Interpersonal Trust Development in GenAI-augmented Organisations

Abstract

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is being increasingly adopted across organisations, where its integration into work has been shown to significantly enhance efficiency and productivity. However, GenAI's use introduces greater uncertainty about the reliability and quality of work. This uncertainty, combined with potential changes in social interaction as an outcome of GenAI use, may directly impact interpersonal relationships, especially trust, among employees. Yet, remarkably few studies explore GenAI’s impact on interpersonal relationships within organisations. This study, therefore, seeks to explore the impact of GenAI on interpersonal trust in organisations that have integrated GenAI to assist in the conduct of work, referred to here as GenAI-augmented organisations. In this study, we apply the organisational trust model, defining trust as the willingness to be vulnerable in response to perceived trustworthiness based on evaluated ability (skills and competencies), integrity (adherence to shared values and norms) and benevolence (concern for others). We explore how this response evolves in the context of GenAI use. We conducted nine qualitative semi-structured interviews in April-May 2025 with managers from knowledge-intensive, GenAI-augmented organisations. Our findings suggest that in GenAI-augmented organisations, managers tend to place greater trust in employees demonstrating ability requiring higher cognitive effort, such as critical GenAI use, asking questions, understanding, and explaining GenAI outputs. Integrity, described through the manner of GenAI use, particularly by demonstrating responsibility, maintaining transparency, providing evidence, and aligning with organisational policies, is also critical for developing interpersonal trust. Moreover, uncritical GenAI use that may burden others with more work can lead to a reduction in trust. In response to uncertainty, managers often increase supervision; however, this is not necessarily a sign of distrust but a strategy to manage uncertainty. To our knowledge, our study is one of few qualitative studies exploring GenAI use in organisations. It provides a novel perspective that connects GenAI and interpersonal relationships. The findings have implications for management practices, organisational culture, and aligning GenAI to enhance trust and collaboration within organisations.