AI Backfire: Artificial Intelligence Usage Can Lead To Burnout, Low Quality Work, Study Finds

Usage of AI tools in the workplace may lead to an increase in workload, burnout symptoms, instability in work-life balance and reduction of work quality, according to a report from UC Berkley Researchers.

The report, published in Harvard Business Review, stated that the short-term boost in productivity that was expected from the deployment of AI tools may also have downsides as the increased workload gave way for higher expectations. Work that was undertaken over a longer period of time was being done much faster and by fewer people, leading to these people seeing an increase in the work they had to do. This caused a domino effect of more tasks, fewer breaks and upturning work-life balance for employees.

The researchers observed 200 employees in a US-based tech company and how AI usage impacted their work and their ability to work. They found that the heightened workload could result in cognitive fatigue, burnout, and diminished decision-making.

"The productivity surge enjoyed at the beginning can give way to lower quality work, turnover, and other problems," the report said.

AI Fatigue 

As tasks were being insourced, AI engineers found themselves having to spend time reviewing the code that AI generated and assisting non coders who were tasked with using AI to undertake work that was previously delegated to software specialists. They also found themselves attempting to cram in an "extra prompt" during downtime moments, such as lunch breaks and meetings, which lead to a reduction in the feeling of "recovery". The increase in productivity also in turn lead to employees juggling multiple tasks as higher output became normalised in the workplace.

"Many workers noted that they were doing more at once—and feeling more pressure—than before they used AI, even though the time savings from automation had ostensibly been meant to reduce such pressure," the report said.

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This phenomenon was not just limited to AI software engineers as users in the article's comment section had users noting similar effects in others professions.

"Silicon Valley was stereotyped for 'lazy' or fun loving engineers who barely worked but cashed huge paychecks. Now I would say the stereotype is overworked engineers who on the midlevel are making less than 20 back," a user wrote.

"I see it across other disciplines too. Everyone I know from sales, to lawyers, etc if they engage with AI it's like they get stuck in a loop where the original task is easier but now it revealed 10 more smaller tasks that fill up their time even more so than before AI," they added.

Some AI users also reported a decrease in their ability to innovate and solve problems as AI had led to them decreasing the exercise of their cognitive capabilities.

"When you always ask AI first, you stop building the neural pathways that come from struggling with a problem yourself. The struggle is where learning happens," AI Engineer Siddhant Khare wrote in their blog.

Solutions

The research report suggested "intentional pauses" so employees can take a moment to stop and analyse and critique their decisions and gather information before moving forward with them; sequencing workflow by prioritizing and categorising tasks so that work is less reactive and more structured. It also suggested "grounding", which involves breaking away from the isolating nature of conversing with an AI bot and checking in on your human colleagues and having structured conversations with them.

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