A Harvard Business Review study of 200 tech workers found that AI tools cut task time but employees just took on more work instead. The saved hours filled with new responsibilities, and the pace quickened without anyone explicitly demanding it. Workers juggled more threads at once, raising expectations for speed across the board.
Back in February, Harvard Business Review put out this article called AI Doesn't Reduce Work, It Intensifies It. They did an 8-month study inside of a US-based technology company that had about 200 employees. What they found was that the tasks given expanded. Individuals across the organization attempted work they would have outsourced, deferred, or avoided entirely in the past. Essentially, the work that they used to do took a lot less time. So instead of using that newfound time to work less, they just stayed to act additional tasks on their plate, which is something that I know I do and probably most people that are into AI are also doing. AI also introduced a new rhythm in which workers manage several active threads at once, so people were multitasking more as a result of AI. This actually started to raise their expectations for speed, not necessarily through explicit demands— like their boss wasn't coming to them going, hey, we need more out of you— but through what became visible and normalized in everyday work. This is something that those of us that are immersed in AI all the time are definitely feeling.
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