AI\u2019s promise of increased productivity might be a double-edged sword\u2026<\/p>\n
Many workers are experiencing \u201cAI brain fry,\u201d or mental fatigue<\/a> from using and overseeing AI tools. And it\u2019s no wonder why: Organizational change can take a toll on workers, and right now, there\u2019s no greater organizational change than that caused by AI.<\/p>\n Based on the numbers, AI has been negatively impacting employees\u2019 mental health: 55% of workers surveyed<\/a> by mental health platform Headspace reported sacrificing sleep to meet performance goals, while 51% said they\u2019d emotionally checked out and 45% resented senior leaders during these times of change. Seventy percent of the more than 700 workers surveyed said their companies have adopted new AI tools in recent months.<\/p>\n \u201c[AI] is a significant fuel that is stoking that fire of chronic [mental] strain in a way that we haven\u2019t seen a new technology or a new innovation in the workforce really put that strain on people before,\u201d Jenna Glover, organizational psychologist and Headspace\u2019s chief clinical officer, told HR Brew.<\/p>\n Str(AI)ning employees\u2019 mental health. It\u2019s a hard time to be a human. Burnout is rising<\/a>, well-being is declining<\/a>, and healthcare costs<\/a> are skyrocketing. Adding AI to these issues can exacerbate stress, Glover said.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople are not meant to have that kind of strain on them at all times,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s incredibly unhealthy to be under that level of strain, even though people are just like, \u2018This is my new normal.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Even if AI tools deliver on the long-term promise of making work easier, Glover said people leaders need to consider the short-term ramifications on employees\u2019 mental health.<\/p>\n Quick-to-read HR news & insights<\/p>\n From recruiting and retention to company culture and the latest in HR tech, HR Brew delivers up-to-date industry news and tips to help HR pros stay nimble in today\u2019s fast-changing business environment.<\/p>\n \u201cThe level of instability that people are experiencing\u2026doesn\u2019t look like it\u2019s going away,\u201d she said. \u200b\u200b\u201cWe have to start preparing our employees and inoculating them for, \u2018How do you deal with chronic stress, and uncertainty, and still show up and be productive at work and maintain your health?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Where HR comes in. A focus on mental health and well-being strategies should be ongoing since stress is \u201cno longer episodic, it is a chronic state,\u201d Glover said. She recommended HR pros provide resilience training, during which employees can learn strategies for emotion regulation, cognitive flexibility, and attention control.<\/p>\n \u201cHow do we start having benefits that are more upstream, that are proactive, that are building these skillsets which are important skills to operate in this new workforce?\u201d she said. \u201cThose resources have to be embedded into the workflow and into the infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n Some strategies could include \u201cFocus Fridays,\u201d where there are no recurring or mandatory meetings on Fridays as a cognitive \u201crelease valve,\u201d Glover said. And as more companies incorporate AI into performance reviews, she said people leaders can consider adding resiliency or wellness goals. This can help managers and employees track how they\u2019re taking care of themselves.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople need rest. Even in manufacturing, they don\u2019t keep machines running at 100%, 24 hours a day. They actually power down machines to work at 50% or shut them off completely,\u201d Glover said. \u201cIf we\u2019re doing that for machines, we should do that for people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AI\u2019s promise of increased productivity might be a double-edged sword\u2026 Many workers are experiencing \u201cAI brain fry,\u201d or…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[49,48,84,393,394],"class_list":["post-683141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}