AI-Assisted Incompetence and Fraud in IT-Separating Real Talent from Artificial Credibility in Organizations

The perception of expertise and its reality have been completely transformed by generative artificial intelligence (AI). Nowadays, these systems are utilized by qualified specialists for research, composing, and assessing alternatives in a more comprehensive manner. Meanwhile, unskilled, and dishonest people can use the same tools to craft beautiful resumes, strategies, architectures, security policies, code, and interview responses that they don't know, and can't execute. This article explores how AI can be used to become incompetent and fraudulent at every level of the information technology hierarchy, from the developers and administrators to the chief information, technology, and security officers. It categorizes AI users based on government guidance on how to protect against ID fraud by remote workers, AI risk-management frameworks published by various organisations, international labour research, and empirical productivity studies, into three groups competent professionals using AI to improve their legitimate work, developing professionals using AI to build their skills, and individuals using deception to appear competent. It's only the third category that is the problem. The article examines the impact of artificial credibility on the individual, team, enterprise, economy, and societal levels and suggests ways to detect it, governance mechanisms to prevent it, due process safeguards to protect against it and a phased action plan to take place at the organizational level. It ends by saying that organizations need to move away from the focus on artifacts and presentation and towards verified identity, demonstrated reasoning, measurable outcomes, and personal accountability.