{"id":330426,"date":"2025-12-04T17:55:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T17:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/330426\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T17:55:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T17:55:06","slug":"anxiety-and-ai-how-to-handle-the-three-main-drivers-of-stress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/330426\/","title":{"rendered":"Anxiety and AI: How to handle the three main drivers of stress"},"content":{"rendered":"

Interested in more careers-related content? Check out our new weekly Work Life newsletter<\/a>. Sent every Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Generative artificial intelligence has brought anxiety and confusion to our working lives. Morra Aarons-Mele, a workplace mental health advisor, says most of the people she counsels see the vast potential of AI but worry about the threat it presents to white-collar professionals. Those clients see corporate edicts to implement AI transformations, but say the technology isn\u2019t available or ready. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result, these leaders are feeling anxious \u2013 and you might be, too,\u201d she writes<\/a> in Harvard Business Review. <\/p>\n

She points out AI anxiety is not irrational but deeply logical. Our nervous system is designed to react to sudden change and perceived threats. It can help to understand what those threats are; she identifies three main ones: <\/p>\n

Lack of control over the speed of change: Not only do we lack control over how this technology will play out in society but also we feel overwhelmed by the impact on us individually. \u201cIt can feel like AI is getting smarter by the day while we\u2019re\u2026 not,\u201d she says. Loss of meaning: It undermines values that we hold such as self-reliance, learning or usefulness and the meaning that we find in work. \u201cI\u2019ve heard from people who resent AI for siphoning off creativity and expertise, or think that it encourages sloppiness or laziness,\u201d she notes. Uncomfortable emotions we prefer to avoid: AI inevitably will summon lots of messy emotions and she says anyone who\u2019s ever tried to suppress or ignore an emotion knows that doesn\u2019t work. They come out through pain in the body, burnout and poor decision-making or other unwelcome behaviours. You have to recognize those emotions and understand why they\u2019re happening or you will not only be controlled by AI but also by your emotions.<\/p>\n

She recommends asking yourself questions such as how do I feel about AI in general? What excites me? What worries me? Do I trust my company to make good decisions when it comes to implementing AI? <\/p>\n

You may want to share your thoughts and feelings with a mentor, coach or therapist. \u201cUltimately, the goal is to become more familiar with your emotions. We cannot act strategically or create clarity if we don\u2019t understand how we really feel about AI,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

As well as managing anxiety, you must make sure you are devoting yourself to the right challenges with AI in the right way.<\/p>\n

Northwestern University\u2019s S\u00e9bastien Martin, an associate professor of operations, says a common trend for AI users adopting the technology is to move from initial fear to tentative use for replacing routine tasks. However, staying there can be a trap. He told<\/a> Kellogg Insight it\u2019s the next two steps for AI usage \u2013 collaboration and innovation \u2013 where the transformative potential of the technology really emerges. Are you still at step one or moving to collaboration and innovation in your use of AI? <\/p>\n

Tim Pearce, founder of Co-Intell AI, warns<\/a> in this new era to be aware that AI accelerates thinking, but your judgement, taste and experience are still essential. You need to slow down enough to exercise and consider those.<\/p>\n

Consultant Cheryl Strauss Einhorn believes it\u2019s vital when working with AI to act like a decision-maker, not a tool user. \u201cWhile AI can create space for higher-order thinking, it can also tempt us to outsource that thinking altogether. The challenge isn\u2019t just that AI is powerful; it\u2019s also persuasive. It drafts first, sounds confident and moves fast,\u201d she writes<\/a> in Harvard Business Review. <\/p>\n

When we\u2019re under pressure, tired or eager to move forward, it\u2019s easy to let AI make decisions for us without pausing to consider whether we\u2019re about to delegate thinking we should be doing ourselves to the technology.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind you are the accountable authority. It\u2019s up to you to guard against misinformation generated by AI and to ensure purpose. \u201cAI is driven by probability; you\u2019re driven by purpose,\u201d she says. \u201cAI can suggest next steps but it doesn\u2019t know your real motivations. It will give you answers based on what other people have done. It doesn\u2019t understand your values, context, relationships or long-term vision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quick hits<\/p>\n

Business executive Brendan Keegan argues<\/a> we\u2019re living through the great busyness delusion: A collective hallucination where everyone thinks they\u2019re incredibly busy but in fact in many cases are just incredibly scattered. Counter that delusion by asking yourself each day: \u201cWhat are the three most important things I need to get done in priority order?\u201d Then arrange your time accordingly. Author Mark Manson achieved his dream in 2017 when his book was a best seller in 17 countries. But what nobody tells you about achieving your dream is the next morning you wake up without a dream, left with nothing but playing video games in his case. \u201cIt\u2019s great to achieve your dreams but make sure you\u2019ve diversified your dreams enough, across enough areas of your life, so that you never wake up one day without one,\u201d he says<\/a>.It takes more courage to stop than it does to start, says<\/a> executive coach Dan Rockwell. Don\u2019t let sunk costs \u2013 time, energy and other resources spent \u2013 interfere with making the right decision for tomorrow, when stopping something makes sense. Don\u2019t be a victim of perseverance. <\/p>\n

Harvey Schachter is a Kingston-based writer specializing in management issues. He, along with Sheelagh Whittaker, former CEO of both EDS Canada and Cancom, are the authors of When Harvey Didn\u2019t Meet Sheelagh: Emails on Leadership.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Interested in more careers-related content? Check out our new weekly Work Life newsletter. Sent every Monday afternoon. Generative…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[97,259,260,47151],"class_list":{"0":"post-330426","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-mentalhealth","11":"tag-ordid20000"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}