I've started using ChatGPT to draft routine emails at work and organize my notes, which saves me maybe an hour a day. My coworker found out and seemed judgmental about it, saying it's lazy. But I'm not using it to avoid learning or dodge responsibility - just to cut down on tedious stuff. Am I actually being unethical, or is this just a normal part of how work functions in 2026?
Your coworker's reaction probably says more about generational habit than anything else - plenty of people still conflate "doing the work yourself by hand" with "doing good work," which aren't the same thing. The real question is whether you're actually thinking through those emails and notes, or just rubber-stamping whatever the AI spits out without reading it. If you're reviewing, tweaking, and taking ownership of the output, you're not being lazy or unethical - you're being efficient. Does the quality of your work suffer, or are your boss and coworkers satisfied with what you're producing?
Using a tool to handle repetitive work isn't lazy - it's just practical, and your coworker's judgment says more about their hangups than your ethics. You're freeing up mental energy for actual thinking and decision-making, which is exactly what these tools are for.
I stopped hand-writing my garden notes a few years back and switched to a voice app that logs everything - soil type, planting dates, what worked and what didn't. Saves me maybe 20 minutes a week I'd waste squinting at my own handwriting later. My actual gardening didn't get worse, it got better because I had better data to work from. Same principle applies to your emails. You're not avoiding the work, you're just not wasting time on the formatting and rewording part. The actual decision-making and judgment calls are still yours. Your coworker's discomfort doesn't make it unethical.
Most workplaces by now have some expectation that you're using available tools to work smarter, and an hour saved on email drafts means you're actually delivering more value elsewhere instead of just looking busy. The only real ethical question is whether you're still putting your own thought into the work - and if you're reviewing and personalizing what ChatGPT produces, you're already ahead of the people who just hit send on whatever it spits out!
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