The adoption of AI tools at the workplace makes employees more productive. But a new study by the Upwork Freelance Recruitment Company suggests that this could also harm their mental health.
Following a survey conducted with 2,500 professionals (executives, employees and self -employed) in several countries, research shows that the most dedicated users of AI tools, including AI agents, are also 88 % more likely to suffer from professional exhaustion and twice as likely to resign, compared to their colleagues who use less frequent technology.
The vast majority of freelancers (88 %) who responded to the survey, on the other hand, said that their use of AI had a positive impact on their careers. And this without the psychological drawbacks reported by their full -time salaried counterparts.
AI: more a work colleague than a simple tool
Among all the respondents, 90 % said they came to consider AI more as a work colleague than a simple tool. And the interpersonal dynamics in the workplace evolve accordingly. For example, 85 % of those questioned say they are more polite for AI than their human colleagues. And 67 % say they feel a higher level of confidence in AI than their human colleagues.
“These results illustrate the fact that professionals who reach the greatest productivity with AI have lost a feeling of psychological security and connection with the team that is the basis of their professional experience, which feeds their professional exhaustion and their intention to leave their current job,” notes Upwork.
These new conclusions follow a study by the Harvard Business Review published in May, according to which the use of the generative AI in the workplace can stimulate productivity while reducing the feeling of meaning at work. And this also comes at a time when business leaders wonder about the role that AI will play in their business and how it will affect the future of their workforce.
Promises and reality
Large technological companies such as Microsoft, Google, Salesforce and Amazon have invested massively in AI agents. These automated systems are able to formulate strategies, take measures and use digital tools on behalf of human users. They are presented to companies as tools to increase productivity and efficiency at work.
Meanwhile, AI chatbots have become more sophisticated, encouraging many people to turn to them as a company and emotional support. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, said that IA companions could help to mitigate the endemic loneliness of our society. This is a real problem, but it is quite ironically the technology of social media of which Facebook was one of the pioneers played a preponderant role in this dynamic.
The fact remains that already, business leaders have started to integrate AI agents and tools into their organization. A recent study by the University of Stanford revealed that many professionals have already started using agents in their daily work, but only for simple and routine tasks.
“The heart of the work remains the connection”
The main promise of large technological companies that push AI to the workplace is that technology will take care of tedious tasks, thus releasing the pros so that they are devoted to more rewarding activities.
The new Upwork report shows it the opposite trend. At least among full -time employees, a more pronounced dependence at AI seems to be in correlation with a more isolated professional experience on the social level.
According to the report, self -employed workers offer a healthier and durable interaction model between humans and AI.
“While full -time employees develop a wide range of social relations with AI, self -employed workers mainly use AI as a learning partner,” write the authors. This conclusion must however be taken with tweezers, given the fact that PuWork clearly has an interest in encouraging companies to hire more self -employed workers (ideally from its platform), and that other research has shown that self -employed workers tend to feel more than full -time employees.
The results of the survey highlight the fact that human well-being in the workplace depends on much more than simple productivity. “Tools, technology and even what we define as a teammate evolve and constantly extend to the AI age,” writes Upwork in his report. “But the heart of work remains the connection”.
