Reddit Discourses on Generative AI Usage in Work

It is becoming clear that the defining disruptive technology of this generation is generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). It is changing the way people communicate and find, consume, and (re)produce information, which in turn is changing work practices and especially knowledge work. Sometimes called the fourth industrial revolution, this era of GenAI is causing polemic in online communities not dissimilar to previous historical discourses of moral panic over technological change and progress. The current development of GenAI is, however, different in that it revolutionises the very notion of knowledge work by challenging human capabilities. Against this background, our research seeks to examine online discourses regarding work in the era of GenAI. To do so, we turn to a social media site where discussion and debate is encouraged, namely Reddit, the self-branded “heart of the internet”. In this poster we look at selected posts and comments from 2026 posted on subreddits dedicated to discussion on either work or artificial intelligence and use critical discourse analysis 1) to identify and critically examine the discourses of GenAI and work, and 2) to reflect on the global power structures at play in the discourses on work and GenAI. We take a critical approach to our small corpus and discuss also the transformative effects of these discourses. Preliminary findings suggest discourse bubbles of utopian hopes and dystopian worries of a future without work and of concerns over the ethics and environmental toll of GenAI tools and their effects on the skills of humans.