State of AI in the Workplace: Workers Express Myriad Fears About AI's Impact

Employees are anxious about AI’s potential consequences

It’s made a big splash with employers, but AI’s entrance into day-to-day work has some employees worried about their futures. 

More than half of those surveyed (63%) say they have at least some fear about AI technology. Specifically, 62% of people surveyed reported being somewhat or very afraid of losing their jobs because of AI. 

Burnout is a burning concern for workers

Another prevailing worry among workers is burnout. Overall, 61% of people believe that using AI at work will increase their chances of experiencing burnout.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), which classified burnout as a medical condition in 2019, “Burnout is a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.”

WHO states that symptoms of burnout include feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, increased mental distance from one’s job, feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s career, and reduced professional efficacy.

While research shows that women experience burnout at a higher rate than men overall, the State of AI in the Workplace Report shows that men are more concerned than women that AI could increase their levels of burnout (67% of men vs. 55% of women).

Also, the younger the worker, the more concerned they are with AI’s potential to increase burnout. The results showed that 87% of workers who are 25 or younger think it will increase burnout compared to 73% of people ages 26-40 and 47% of people 41 or older.

Worried workers wonder if AI will create work-life balance disruptions

In addition to fears about burnout and job loss, many workers worry that the integration of AI could have a less-than-positive influence on work-life balance or the amount of time a person spends doing their job versus the amount of time spent doing things that are important to them outside of work, such as spending time with family. 

Overall, 43% of people fear AI use will negatively impact how work fits into their lives. There are some interesting demographic differences when the data on work-life balance is examined, including:

The workers’ age affected their views about whether AI would negatively impact work-life balance. Workers aged 41 and older have the most concerns about AI’s impact on their work-life balance, with more than half (51%) saying they believe it will have a negative effect. 

The younger the worker, the less apt they are to feel this way, with only 34% of workers aged 26-40 and 29% of workers aged 25 or younger worried about AI hurting work-life balance.  

Here, too, men and women have slightly differing views on AI’s impact. More men have higher hopes for AI’s impact on their work-life balance, with 61% believing it will have a positive effect, compared to only 46% of women.

Strong excitement coupled with lingering doubts

Interestingly, despite concerns about AI’s impact on work-life balance and the potential for burnout, many workers are still open to incorporating AI in their workflow and have high hopes for how AI will ultimately impact their experience. 

Overall, 78% of participants say they feel somewhat or very positive about using AI for work purposes, and 62% believe that AI technology will positively impact the workplace. 

Only 3% reported feeling negatively about the use of AI at work. 

Younger workers show the highest levels of positivity about AI use at work, with 51% of workers 25 and under reporting very positive feelings about it and 40% saying they feel somewhat positive about it.

Workers have high confidence in their AI skills

Fears aside, workers feel quite confident in their ability to use AI. The study found that 88% of people have at least some confidence in their ability to use AI tools for work-related purposes.

While men and women overall have similar levels of confidence in their ability to leverage AI, men were more likely to label themselves as “very confident” in their ability to use AI tools, at 47%, compared to females, 38%.

Younger workers, too, show high levels of confidence about their abilities, with 60% of workers 25 or younger calling themselves very confident compared to 47% of workers aged 26-40 and 35% of workers aged 41 or older.

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