The use and supervision of AI tools lead to increased mental exertion for employees, according to a study by Boston Consulting Group, cited by HR Brew.
Most employees (67%) were already experiencing at least one symptom of burnout last year, as previously reported by HR Brew. Now, mental fatigue is worsening as AI tools infiltrate the workplace, according to a recent study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Researchers call it „AI brain fry,” or the mental fatigue that comes from using and monitoring AI tools.
„Constantly overseeing and making decisions about the quality of AI-generated work leads to decision fatigue,” Leah Buck, an employee engagement consultant and founder of the consultancy firm WhyWork, told HR Brew. „It's a task that is inherently psychologically draining.”
What’s going on? The purpose of AI tools is to increase efficiency and productivity and, as a result, make people’s work easier. However, 14% of employees have already experienced „brain drain” caused by artificial intelligence, according to the BCG study, and productivity declines when employees use four or more AI tools.
When people work together, they develop a rapport and become attuned to each other’s strengths and weaknesses, Buck told HR Brew, so that overseeing a colleague’s work becomes easier over time. But when employees work with agentic artificial intelligence, outcomes can be inconsistent, may require extra oversight, and can lead to more mental strain, she added.
„When you're working with AI agents that often change the way they produce results from day to day... You're never quite sure what they're going to say,” she said. „That constant monitoring and decision-making takes a real toll on people.”
In addition to still learning how to use and supervise AI tools, employees are also struggling with the job insecurity that AI causes, Caitlin Collins, an organizational psychologist and director of program strategy at Betterworks, told HR Brew.
Collins said that employees are facing questions like: Will AI be useful to me or will it replace me? How do I use AI to keep my job? How do I ensure I comply with my company's AI policies?
„The scope of the concept... I would associate it with burnout and stress,” she added.
Some roles are more prone to mental exhaustion caused by artificial intelligence than others: 26% of marketing professionals, 19% of human resources specialists, and 18% of engineers reported experiencing this, compared to 61% of legal professionals and 91% of product managers, the analysis shows.
Some roles face greater mental burnout from AI than others, as AI removes creativity, Buck said, which can be the most mentally rewarding part of work. As tasks like writing, document design, or strategizing are „outsourced to AI,” she said, people are left with mentally exhausting tasks like coordinating, reviewing, and decision-making.
„It doesn't allow us to have the creativity that actually energizes people, so it's not surprising that, especially in roles that have to oversee a lot of AI output, we're seeing a lot of decision fatigue and mental fatigue taking hold of employees,” Buck said.