Your Service Desk is already using AI. They’re just not telling you about it.
When we use AI tools to draft a knowledge article or an email, we spend time “making it look less AI” or we downplay our contributions with phrases like, “I just drafted this quickly”.
Our output using AI may be far superior to what we may have been able to generate alone, but we are afraid to embrace it. The stigma around the use of AI is very real, but in ITSM, where efficiency and consistency matter most, we shouldn’t hide our AI use we need to embrace it.
Where the Stigma Comes From
AI stigma is rooted in our fear and uncertainty of how it will be perceived. Will they think I am lazy? Does this devalue my work? With AI being so valuable, what value do I bring to the table now?
Our fear stems from emotions surrounding how easy the new tools are to use and our own perceived lack of rigor. It can feel like cheating or that we aren’t putting in the sweat equity that makes a task feel complete.
But our tools have changed over time, from paper tickets to enterprise-level ITSM. A great self-service portal doesn’t feel like cheating, so appropriate use of AI shouldn’t either.
The Mindset Shift
So, how do we help to battle the stigma? We need a mindset shift to help reframe how we think of using AI. With shrinking budgets, thinning resources and the desire to do more with less, AI is positioned to alleviate the pressure put on us to have high-performing and high output teams.
We need to shift our feeling of productivity and self-worth as measures of hours spent. Instead, we need to focus on business outcomes, speed and clarity, quality, and our ability to execute on our ideas. By embracing AI, we move faster, iterate more and learn quicker. AI is not a cheat code; it is another tool in our ever-growing toolkit for us to adapt and adopt.
From Shadow AI to Standard Practice
Our teams are using AI, but the stigma around it may be silencing some amazing ideas. It’s important that once we create an environment that accepts and encourages use of AI that we also consider creating practices and governance around it that support and enable AI use in a structured way. We need to normalize saying ,“I used AI to help with this” or disclosing, responsibly, how we used AI in as a resource. This transparent modeling queues others for acceptable use, but also reduces stigma.
Instead of banning AI we must define where it is allowed, what level of human validation is required and how we expect to indicate its use in final products. If we establish usage guardrails such as, we can reposition toward AI change enablement instead of restriction.
As with any new tool, the stigma will fade, and the gap will grow between people who use AI and the people who judge AI. In a few years, using AI won’t be controversial. It will be invisible. The question isn’t whether AI belongs in ITSM, it’s whether we bring it into the light and manage it or let it operate in the shadows.