Sometimes when I have an artifact (on a pub) and we have under 800 energy, and everyone else refuses to go out and get a gen (granted, they may just not know how to)... I'll go get one myself, out of necessity. 50% of the time I am going to get killed.
Now when you're playing against good competition, this is NOT a smart thing to do, because 100% of the time, you are going to get killed. "Hiding" in this case would be the more intelligent, cautious, and wise thing to do. Especially if the other team already has 3 artis and you're holding the last one. Consider yourself the one thing preventing your team from losing at this point.
I dunno about you guys, but I'd rather be alive than fodder in this situation. Hiding for an extended amount of time in any other situation should be frowned upon and will be eliminated in the next patch.