Getting a Fish or a Fishing Rod? Coworkers’ Reactions to AI-Assisted Success

Abstract: Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is increasingly embedded in everyday work, yet little is known about how coworkers evaluate colleagues’ success following different forms of AI assistance. Drawing on interpersonal help-seeking theory, we distinguish between autonomous AI help-seeking, in which AI provides guidance that supports independent task completion, and dependent AI help-seeking, in which AI generates ready-made solutions. Across three studies, including scenario-based experiments and a study with real monetary consequences, we examine how these forms of AI help-seeking shape coworkers’ perceived deservingness, envy, and behavior. Results show that success following dependent (versus autonomous) AI help is perceived as less deserved, elicits higher malicious envy and lower benign envy, and leads to reduced prosocial behavior and greater undermining. Perceived deservingness consistently mediates these effects and is amplified under upward social comparison. By extending help-seeking theory to human–AI interactions, this research clarifies when AI-assisted success is socially legitimized versus socially discounted.

Keywords: GenAI, procedural justice, envy, deservingness, coworker reactions