PURSUING EFFICIENCY WHILE UPHOLDING ACCOUNTABILITY: The Efficiency–Accountability Paradox in GenAI– Assisted Knowledge Work

Sammanfattning

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is increasingly used by employees in commercialand operational roles to support everyday work activities. While these toolscan improve efficiency by accelerating the creation of content, analyses, summaries,and communications, employees must still determine whether outputs are accurate,relevant, and suitable for organizational use. Although research has exploredGenAI’s capabilities and productivity implications, less attention has been given tohow employees pursue efficiency gains while upholding accountability in everydaywork practices. This thesis examines how employees use GenAI to pursue efficiencywhile remaining accountable for outputs generated with GenAI, and how they navigatethis tension in everyday work practices. Drawing on 14 semi-structured interviewswith chartering and operations employees, the study adopts an interpretivequalitative case study approach.Findings show that GenAI use emerged through individual experimentation and informaladaptation, often before formal organizational guidance. Participants consistentlytreated GenAI outputs as drafts rather than final products. Before organizationaluse, employees engaged in verification, contextualization, and professionaljudgment to assess suitability. As a result, efficiency gains were accompanied byongoing accountability demands, shifting employee effort from draft production towardsverification, contextualization, evaluation, and approval of GenAI-assistedoutputs. This study conceptualizes an efficiency–accountability paradox in GenAIassistedwork, where employees gain efficiency while remaining accountable for theoutputs they ultimately choose to own and use in the workplace. Consequently, efficiencygains and accountability demands persist simultaneously, creating an ongoingtension that employees must continuously navigate in practice.