A TheStreet report highlights a surprising and concerning finding from new workplace research: while generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools promise productivity gains, they can also intensify workloads and create hidden costs for employees. Researchers from UC Berkeley studied about 200 employees at a U.S. tech company over eight months and found that workers using AI ended up doing more work rather than less — taking on tasks beyond their normal roles and extending their work hours.
The study documented three major ways in which AI made work more intense. First, task expansion occurred as employees began tackling responsibilities they wouldn’t have attempted before because AI made the work seem doable. Designers started coding, product managers tackled engineering tasks, and researchers began doing tasks previously outsourced — all of which increased workload rather than lightening it. Second, the line between work and personal time blurred, with people sending AI prompts during lunches, meetings, and breaks, effectively removing natural pauses from their day. Third, more multitasking arose because employees ran multiple AI processes at once and managed overlapping work threads, which added cognitive strain.
These dynamics can undermine the hoped-for benefits of AI. Instead of simply accelerating existing work, AI can shift expectations about how much individuals can and should accomplish, leading to burnout, cognitive fatigue, and lower-quality outputs as employees juggle more responsibilities. The researchers warn that the initial productivity surge seen when AI tools are first adopted may fade as workloads increase and strain mounts.
This finding aligns with broader research on AI in the workplace, which shows that time saved on tasks is often eroded by rework and verification time, as employees must correct errors or ensure AI outputs are reliable. Some studies find that a significant portion of AI’s apparent time savings — up to around 40 % — is lost to rework and quality checks, highlighting a productivity paradox where AI makes work possible but also more demanding.
