AI Promised to Save Time—Instead It’s Created a New Kind of Burnout

A new study published in Harvard Business Review this week confirmed what many employees already suspected: AI tools do not reduce work, but intensify it.

The study cited data from UC-Berkeley and Yale, collected during eight months of embedded research at a 200-employee tech company, where employees voluntarily adopted AI tools.

The results showed clear patterns of work intensification that quietly evolved into what researchers call “workload creep.”

First came the task expansion. Product managers started writing code. Researchers took on technical work. Roles that once had clear boundaries blurred as employees took on tasks previously beyond their purview. AI made that shift seem feasible.

“You might have thought, ‘oh, because you could be more productive with AI, you’ll save some time and work less,’” said one engineer. researchers said. “But you don’t actually work less. You just work the same amount or even more.”

This created a ripple effect. Engineers suddenly found themselves assessing, correcting, and coaching colleagues who were, as one participant perfectly described it, “vibe-coding.”

The person who automated some of their work just created more work for someone else.

Second came vague boundaries. AI’s conversational interface made starting work feel effortless: no blank page paralysis, no intimidating learning curve.

So employees started sending “quick final directions” before leaving their desks, allowing AI to complete the chores as they walked away. Many even used AI prompts during their free time, to the point that AI use for after-hours work piled up into hours and days with fewer natural breaks.

In third place came a wave of multitasking. Employees were expected to manage multiple workflows simultaneously as AI gave the impression that tasks could be handled in the background.

The promised productivity gains often translated into constant switching of attention and longer to-do lists.

When you put it all together, you get what researchers define as a self-reinforcing cycle in which AI makes things easier, so employees do more of those things, ultimately leading them to rely more on AI to make those things easier. Rinse, repeat, burnout.

“Several participants noted that although they felt more productive, they did not feel less busy, and in some cases even felt busier than before,” the researchers note.

Working in the AI ​​era

Employees are slowly being laid off, and those who remain are only challenged to the point of burnout.

A new DHR Global questionnaire of 1,500 business professionals found that 83% suffered from burnout, with overwhelming workloads and excessive hours being the biggest culprits.

In 2024, the Upwork Research Institute reported that 77% of workers using AI said these tools had reduced their productivity and increased their workload.

Same institute this year reported that the most in-demand skills in recent months were related to AI.

The Berkeley researchers emphasize that this increase in work may seem productive in the short term, but it can lead to cognitive fatigue, weakened decision-making, and ultimately employee turnover, as employees realize that their workload has increased while they were busy experimenting with ChatGPT.

Their solution: Companies need an “AI practice,” or intentional standards around AI use.

Consider structured pauses before important decisions, work in a sequence to reduce context switching, and protect time for real human connection.

“Without such practices, the natural trend of AI-enabled work is not downsizing but intensification, with consequences for burnout, decision quality, and long-term sustainability,” the researchers concluded.

The data also showed a sharp difference in seniority. Burnout was reported by 62% of associates and 61% of entry-level workers, compared to 38% among C-suite leaders.