Is AI stressing out your staff?
AI has been part of everyday life longer than many realise, operating quietly in the background since the 1980s as industry, government and academia developed knowledge representation, expert systems and machine learning.
Today, AI is visible in voice assistants like Alexa, smart thermostats that learn routines to save energy, security cameras that distinguish people from pets, and robot vacuums that navigate using mapping.
It can still feel “new” because once a technique becomes efficient and widespread, it simply becomes part of the software – unremarkable, almost invisible. Now, however, the focus is shifting from “predictive AI”, which analyses historical data, to a boom in “generative AI”, which creates entirely new content.
AI adoption in the workplace
The pace of AI adoption has increased dramatically since the early 2020s. While tools like ChatGPT have made AI far more visible, the technology has been powering business logistics, search engines and fraud detection for well over a decade.
AI is now embedded across sectors including administration, finance, healthcare, logistics, education and professional services. Surveys suggest many employees use AI tools daily or weekly, and organisations plan to increase investment significantly over the coming years.
Crucially, AI is no longer confined to background systems – employees interact with it directly through tools that draft emails, summarise meetings, assess performance, prioritise work, screen CVs and monitor productivity. As a result, AI is reshaping expectations and perceptions of value at work as a whole.
New pressures and risks
While AI is widely promoted for its efficiency and productivity benefits, its rapid adoption is also changing how people experience work, and for many employees, it’s becoming a source of stress rather than support.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines work-related stress as “the adverse reaction people have to excessive pressures or other types of demand placed on them at work.” Stress arises when individuals feel unable to cope with those demands, particularly where they lack control, clarity or the skills required to meet expectations.
While AI can reduce workload in some areas, evidence suggests it’s also creating new stressors, often unintentionally. One of the most significant is job insecurity. Studies repeatedly show that around half of workers are worried about how AI will affect their future employment.
Increased cognitive load is another growing concern. AI tools can accelerate the pace of work and raise performance expectations, leaving employees feeling pressure to produce more, respond faster and continuously adapt to new systems. Mental fatigue and “always on” working patterns are a real consequence of this.
There’s also growing evidence around loss of control and autonomy. AI-driven monitoring, algorithmic decision-making and opaque performance metrics can leave employees feeling watched, judged or powerless, particularly where systems are poorly explained or introduced without consultation.
Managing AI-related stress
A major cause of AI-related stress is uncertainty, particularly fears around job security and performance monitoring. Research consistently shows that anxiety increases when employees do not understand how AI systems affect them.
This can be addressed by:
- Clearly explain why AI is being introduced and what it will and won’t be used for
- Reassure staff where AI is intended to support, not replace, human roles
- Be honest where impacts are still uncertain – silence tends to increase anxiety more than transparency
- Consulting staff before AI tools are rolled out
- Involving end‑users in testing and feedback
- Encouraging open discussion about concerns, not just productivity gains
- Providing practical, role‑specific AI training
- Allowing learning time within working hours (not as an extra burden)
- Making it clear that mistakes and learning curves are expected
Finally, remember to review your risk assessments in light of significant organisational changes (the introduction of AI absolutely falls into that category!), and ensure your stress risk assessments, and any other applicable assessments, are updated to reflect AI-related changes.
