What Do You Do With an AI Conscientious Objector?
CIO, Tuesday, September 29th, 2026
A tech leader explains how they handled an employee refusing to use AI, while holding them to AI-era benchmarks.
In a CIO.com column, an IT leader recounts a team member who refused to use AI, citing fears of training their replacement, distrust of hallucinating tools that breed complacency, and the environmental strain of data centers.
The author chose not to force adoption but will hold the employee to the same performance benchmarks, which now assume AI productivity gains, and a CNBC and SurveyMonkey poll found 65% of workers have avoided AI over similar concerns.
The piece argues AI has a PR problem leaders must address through transparency and honest dialogue.