AI Use in Workplaces Causing ‘Brain Fry,’ Say Researchers

The excessive use and oversight of artificial intelligence in the workplace is giving workers “AI brain fry,” contrary to the technology’s assurance that it would ease job pressures.

Workers who are using AI tools report that the technology is “intensifying rather than simplifying work,” researchers from Boston Consulting Group and the University of California wrote in the Harvard Business Review on Friday.

A study of nearly 1,500 full-time US workers found 14% said they had experienced “mental fatigue that results from excessive use of, interaction with, and/or oversight of AI tools beyond one’s cognitive capacity,” or what the researchers called “AI brain fry.”

Respondents described having a “mental hangover” with a “fog” or “buzzing” and an inability to think clearly, along with headaches, slower decision-making, and difficulty focusing.

AI companies have pushed their products as a productivity booster, allowing workers to offload some or part of their workloads, a message that some companies have taken on and started to measure AI use as a performance metric.

Crypto exchange Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has said he fired engineers who didn’t want to use AI, and set a goal late last year to have AI generate half of the platform’s code.

“As enterprises use more multi-agent systems, employees find themselves toggling between more tools,” the researchers wrote. “Contrary to the promise of having more time to focus on meaningful work, juggling and multitasking can become the definitive features of working with AI.”

AI carries “significant costs,” but can improve burnout

The researchers said this AI-induced mental strain “carries significant costs in the form of increased employee errors, decision fatigue, and intention to quit.”

Study respondents who said they had brain fry experienced 33% more decision fatigue compared to those who didn’t, which researchers said could cost large companies millions of dollars a year. Those with AI brain fry were also around 40% more likely to have an active intent to quit.

Those reporting AI brain fry also self-reported making nearly 40% more major errors than those who did not, with a major error defined as one with “serious consequences, such as those that could affect safety, outcomes, or important decisions.” 

The researchers found, however, that the use of AI to replace repetitive and routine tasks decreased burnout, a state of chronic workplace stress that leads to negative feelings about the job and decreased effectiveness.

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Respondents who used AI to reduce time spent on routine and repetitive tasks reported their levels of burnout were 15% lower than those who didn’t use AI in such a way.

The researchers said company leaders looking to reduce AI brain fry should “clearly define AI’s purpose in the organization” and explain how workloads will change with the tool.