You might have thought AI was going to make your job easier.
But a new survey suggests it’s actually making us do more work.
One in four UK employees claim tools like ChatGPT have in fact piled on more pressure – and made bosses expect them to do more.
Experts have warned it could ‘lead to burnout’, suggesting that because we are completing work more quickly we simply fill the time with new tasks instead.
The YouGov poll of 2,000 UK adults, commissioned by tech insurance firm YuLife, found AI is reshaping white–collar work but not always in the way many predicted.
With reports claiming AI could cause hundreds of millions of job losses globally, a third admitted they feared the technology could make them redundant in the next five years.
But the survey also revealed that among those using AI tools, 23 per cent reported their workload had increased and 26 per cent were finding it was putting them under more pressure.
And despite their employer making more money due to productivity gains, one in three – 35 per cent – said they did not expect this to be reinvested in their wellbeing or development.
You might have thought AI was going to make your job easier. But a new survey suggests it’s actually making us do more work (stock image)
Experts suggest that as staff produce work faster using AI, the ‘expectations increase and the pace of work ramps up too’.
Dr Fabian Stephany from the University of Oxford, whose research specialises in AI and the future of work, said it suggested workloads tended ‘to increase with AI, somewhat ironically, because we are able to get things done faster.’
Career coach Kelly Swingler, who specialises with clients suffering from burnout, said she had noticed a trend for AI ‘creating more work’.
She said: ‘Everyone thought AI would make our jobs easier, but for many people it’s actually having the opposite effect.
‘Suddenly you’re expected to deliver more, respond faster, and always be ‘on’.’
A recent study by the University of California Berkeley monitoring how AI was changing work habits at a US tech firm found it was causing staff to work longer and more intense hours.
Researchers found that because tasks had now become easier to finish or were assigned to AI, employees were filling the time with new projects, and taking on more and broader responsibilities they might previously have outsourced.
Tal Gilbert, CEO of YuLife, a workplace benefits app that rewards employees for healthy habits, said: ‘We are navigating a generational shift in how people work.
One in four UK employees claim tools like ChatGPT have in fact piled on more pressure – and made bosses expect them to do more
‘AI has enormous potential to transform how we work.
‘But we may be seeing the beginnings of an AI productivity paradox, where tools designed to save time can end up increasing pressure instead.
‘The opportunity for employers is to use AI to improve both productivity and health, creating efficiency but also keeping employees motivated.’
