AI companions in the Workplace

Key Points 

• AI companions are chatbots that talk with you, offer support, and help with various tasks 

• There are pros and cons to bringing AI companions to work, and they need to be considered before use 

• Employers are recommended to create strong policies and procedures for when they introduce AI companions to the workplace 

What exactly are AI companions? 

You may call it a friend. You may call it a mentor. You may even call it a romantic partner. What I’m talking about is the AI companion. 

Essentially, these AI companions are chatbots that talk with you, offer support, and help with various tasks. 

Some of the main characteristics of AI companions include: 

• They chat: the conversation quality is important in that the chatbot needs to sound natural, understand context, and keep the conversations flowing 

• They have several features: some of the key features include customization options, voice chat, and any special abilities 

• They are easy to use: user-friendly elements include things like ease of set up, ease of finding features, and ease of use across different devices

When evaluating AI companions, each criterion is given a score on a five-point scale, where the higher the score, the more highly rated the AI companion.   

What are some of the most popular AI companions? 

There are many websites that comment on and rank popular AI companions. It is important to keep in mind that it depends on the reasons why a person wants to use the AI companions, whether it is for friendship and emotional support, helping with school or work, or going down the romantic path.  

For instance, some sites rank the seven best AI companions of 2024, others create comparison matrices for six AI companions, and others list the top 10 to chat and have fun with.   

Some of these AI companions can also be used as mentors and buddies to bounce ideas off of then thinking about work: think Star Trek and brainstorming in the Holodeck. It might be less challenging than finding a real-life mentor. For example, using AI to enhance—not replace humans can hep to embrace AI as a tool for growth, and therefore enhance human potential.   

Yet other AI companions are pure business and act as business tools. For example, users can “Tackle any challenge with Copilot”. This chatbot can give users straightforward answers so a they can lean, grow, and gain confidence. It helps with any task so users can transform their ideas into stunning visuals, simplify dense information into clear insights, and polish their writing so their voice shines (users need Microsoft 365 plan). There are even Copilot+ PCs. 

Another example of an AI companion that helps with work is Gemini for Google Workspace. Lauded as the “always-on AI assistant”, it can be used across the Google Workspace, meaning it is built right into Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and more, with enterprise-grade security and privacy (users need a Workspace plan). 

What are the pros and cons of bringing AI companions to the workplace? 

Like BYOD (Bring your own device), BYOBs have several pros: 

• Increased productivity and efficiency 

• Enhanced decision-making 

• More efficient and precise learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and language understanding, especially with certain sectors like healthcare 

• Higher likelihood of innovation and competitive edge 

• Ability to automate tasks 

And here are some of the main cons:  

• Employees have serious job displacement concerns 

• Privacy and cybersecurity concerns 

• Ethical concerns 

• Potential for overdependency  

• Potential for errors 

When including AI companions in the workplace, there are several uses; that said, it is important to remain aware that there are challenges that need to be addressed.  

How are AI companions being used by employers at work? 

Some tasks that are being completed by AI companions are things like notetaking, summarizing meetings, and creating agendas or lists of follow-up tasks. When employees bring their own AI companions to work, they may be cheaper to buy individually compared to enterprise management features, employees can pick their own AI companions that they are familiar and work well with, and employees who frequently use these tools end up self-training them. 

Employers are recommended to set some rules and guardrails by creating an AI in the Workplace policy for all employees in the workplace.  

Moreover, it is critical for employers to understand the risks and attempt to mitigate those risks. See my colleague’s insight article on the risks of AI companions and how to mitigate them.