Harvard Study Reveals AI Tools Increase Employee Workloads Despite Faster Task Completion
Summary
Harvard researchers discover AI tools paradoxically increase employee workloads at tech companies, as workers take on broader responsibilities and extend hours despite completing individual tasks faster, with non-technical staff now tackling coding while failing to recognize their escalating burden until initial excitement fades.
Key Points
- Harvard researchers find that AI tools intensify workloads for 200 tech company employees over eight months, causing workers to take on broader tasks and extend work hours despite completing individual tasks faster
- AI enables non-technical employees to tackle previously inaccessible tasks like coding, reduces friction between work and personal time, and encourages multitasking that increases overall task loads
- Workers voluntarily adopt AI tools but fail to notice their workloads increasing until initial excitement wears off, creating new work within existing jobs rather than eliminating positions entirely