Nexus Institute for Work and AI: Research Deep Dive

Nexus Institute for Work and AI: Research Deep Dive

Join us for in-depth conversations with leading researchers at the intersection of work and artificial intelligence. Our hosts explore cutting-edge research, practical applications, and the profound implications AI is having on the workplace. From automation and job transformation to ethical considerations and emerging opportunities, each episode unpacks complex topics through thoughtful dialogue with the experts shaping the future of work. Whether you're a researcher, practitioner, or simply curious about how AI is reshaping our professional lives, these deep dives offer valuable insights grounded in rigorous research and real-world experience.

Episodes

A Conversation to Enrich, Not Extract

October 26, 2026 • 46 mins
Organizations frequently deploy artificial intelligence with a productivity-first approach that focuses strictly on maximizing output and reducing headcount, which often leads to employee fear, hidden usage, and stagnant adoption. Field research demonstrates that framing artificial intelligence instead as an enrichment tool to eliminate tedious tasks and enhance meaningful work dramatically increases engagement, experimentation, an...
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A Conversation about the Displacement Shadow: Fear of AI Replacement and Workplace Conduct

October 21, 2026 • 59 mins
This research examines how artificial intelligence adoption generates widespread workplace anxiety about job and occupation obsolescence, ultimately undermining employee conduct and organizational commitment. Research demonstrates that the fear of technological replacement triggers moral disengagement, leading to counterproductive behaviors and diminished psychological well-being, particularly in highly exposed industries. To count...
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A Conversation about Bridging the AI Dividend Gap

October 18, 2026 • 48 mins
The AI dividend gap describes the uneven distribution of generative artificial intelligence benefits in the workplace, where advantages flow primarily to college graduates, managers, and knowledge workers rather than frontline staff. Although research demonstrates that novices and lower-skilled employees often achieve the greatest productivity gains from artificial intelligence, regular tool usage remains concentrated among individ...
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A Conversation about the AI Hiring Arms Race

October 17, 2026 • 76 mins
The modern recruitment landscape is experiencing an arms race as generative artificial intelligence floods employers with an overwhelming volume of polished applications while simultaneously fueling rising candidate fraud. This widespread technological adoption has diminished traditional application signals, eroded mutual trust between job seekers and hiring managers, and heightened legal scrutiny regarding automated screening bias...
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A Conversation about the Cloned Voice at the Top

October 15, 2026 • 50 mins
This research investigates the growing threat of deepfake executive impersonation, wherein bad actors leverage generative artificial intelligence to convincingly clone the voices and appearances of corporate leaders. It emphasizes that the core vulnerability is hierarchical and cultural rather than technical, driven by an authority bias that makes employees hesitant to question requests originating from the top of the chain of comm...
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A Conversation about Managing AI-Assisted Performance Reviews

October 15, 2026 • 70 mins
Generative artificial intelligence has quietly permeated workplace performance evaluations, as a vast majority of corporate managers utilize these tools while keeping employees largely unaware. This undisclosed ghostwriting creates a critical trust deficit, threatening organizational justice, exacerbating potential biases, and substituting machine fluency for genuine human insight. To safeguard interpersonal relationships and emplo...
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A Conversation about the Time Dividend Trap

October 14, 2026 • 63 mins
Generative artificial intelligence is frequently advertised as a tool that returns hours to employees, but empirical evidence reveals that these efficiency gains rarely translate into meaningful relaxation or slack. Instead, organizations and workers quickly absorb the saved minutes into expanded task portfolios, accelerated pacing, and heightened output expectations, creating a phenomenon termed the time dividend trap. Because com...
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A Conversation about Navigating the Shift from AI Users to Builders

October 12, 2026 • 55 mins
Employer demand for artificial intelligence capabilities is rapidly evolving from basic prompting toward hands-on tool construction and workflow automation. Although a vast majority of employees recognize the specific competencies they need to succeed in this changing landscape, a persistent support gap remains because many organizations fail to provide adequate developmental resources. To address this mismatch, companies must impl...
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A Conversation about Designing for Hybrid Intelligence

October 10, 2026 • 65 mins
Although organizations heavily invest in artificial intelligence, many fail to see meaningful returns because they mistakenly view technology as a human replacement rather than a complement. This research examine the concept of hybrid intelligence, which unites human and artificial intelligence to achieve outcomes superior to what either could accomplish independently. Successfully implementing this approach requires intentional ta...
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A Conversation about Designing for Predictability: Mental Models of AI Error Boundaries

October 9, 2026 • 60 mins
This research explores how human-AI collaboration relies heavily on the ability of people to build accurate mental models of artificial intelligence error boundaries rather than solely depending on algorithmic accuracy. When organizations deploy AI in critical fields like healthcare and criminal justice, team performance often falters because users struggle to recognize when a system will succeed or fail. To fix this, the literatur...
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A Conversation about AI-Era Workforce Reallocation and Mobility

October 8, 2026 • 73 mins
This research examines workforce reallocation driven by artificial intelligence and automation through 2035, challenging the common narrative of widespread job destruction by highlighting that net labor demand will actually expand. Drawing on research from the McKinsey Global Institute, the text emphasizes that while millions of employees must transition to new careers, the principal hurdle is mobility rather than scarcity. It unde...
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A Conversation about Mapping AI Adoption Across Career Areas

October 8, 2026 • 57 mins
Labor market data reveals that artificial intelligence adoption is unevenly distributed across the economy rather than advancing uniformly. To effectively prioritize workforce preparation, the research categorizes career areas into four distinct adoption climates: AI hotspots, emerging frontiers, established hubs, and cold zones. By examining the unique growth rates and adoption levels of each quadrant, organizations can tailor the...
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A Conversation about the Rehiring Trap: AI Workforce Strategy

October 8, 2026 • 63 mins
Organizations integrating artificial intelligence into their operations frequently make the strategic mistake of prioritizing workforce automation and headcount reduction over human augmentation. However, research and market forecasts indicate that aggressively cutting staff to capture short-term financial savings often backfires, leading to a loss of vital institutional knowledge and triggering a future need for expensive rehiring...
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A Conversation about Minding the Gap: Understanding AI Error Boundaries

October 7, 2026 • 50 mins
When organizations deploy artificial intelligence to assist with high-stakes choices, high standalone accuracy does not automatically guarantee superior team results. Instead, successful collaboration relies heavily on human mental models, which represent a user's internal grasp of where an algorithm succeeds and where it fails. To optimize team performance, developers must focus on the learnability of error boundaries, prioritizin...
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A Conversation about Being Perfectly Optimized, Strategically Adrift: Preventing AI-Driven Misalignment in HR Systems

September 30, 2026 • 45 mins
This research explores the alignment paradox in human resources, where the integration of artificial intelligence can unintentionally sever the link between workforce behavior and organizational strategy. While AI tools often increase operational efficiency and improve measurable metrics, they frequently prioritize quantifiable data at the expense of vital, unmeasurable qualities like relational judgment and cultural fit. This shif...
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A Conversation about Going From Knowing to Becoming: Leadership Micro-Experiments and AI

September 26, 2026 • 55 mins
This research explores how micro-experiments and artificial intelligence are revolutionizing leadership development by bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical capability. Rather than relying on traditional workshops, the research advocates for small, intentional behavioral tests conducted during daily work to foster genuine learning and agility. Artificial intelligence serves as a vital support system in this p...
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A Conversation about Going From AI Enthusiasm to Accountable HR Adoption

September 23, 2026 • 47 mins
This research explores the necessity of ethical governance and human accountability when integrating artificial intelligence into human resource management. Drawing on research from Thailand, the author argues that organizational readiness depends more on transparent decision-making and practitioner capability than on technical enthusiasm alone. The research emphasizes a framework of accountable adoption, where deployment is contin...
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A Conversation about the Dual-Edge Sword of Organizational AI Adoption

September 22, 2026 • 55 mins
This research examines the psychological and operational impacts of integrating artificial intelligence into the modern workplace. It highlights a critical tension between increased organizational productivity and the heightened anxiety employees feel regarding job security and professional identity. The research argues that AI adoption triggers two divergent responses: an approach-oriented pathway that enhances autonomy and a with...
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A Conversation about Rebuilding Resilience: Three Steps After AI Workforce Reductions

September 16, 2026 • 58 mins
This research outlines a strategic framework for redesigning organizational workflows following workforce reductions driven by artificial intelligence. Rather than focusing solely on cost-cutting, the research advocates for a three-step rebuilding process that involves mapping current workforce capabilities, modeling future task-level needs, and empowering managers to execute these changes. By analyzing real-world examples from com...
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A Conversation about Recalibrating Trust and Purpose in the Age of AI

September 11, 2026 • 56 mins
This research explores how higher education is adapting to a volatile landscape defined by generative artificial intelligence, decreasing public trust, and financial instability. Academic institutions are moving away from punitive AI surveillance in favor of collaborative governance and redesigned assessments that prioritize the learning process over final outputs. This shift requires a focus on institutional resilience, where lead...
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