Recent findings are sparking discussions about how the swift rise of artificial intelligence in workplaces is affecting employees.
The 2026 State of the Workplace report by ActivTrak reveals that “80 percent of employees are now utilizing AI tools—an increase from 53 percent in 2023.”
The report further indicates that “disengagement risk has risen by 23 percent,” suggesting that roughly one in four employees may be feeling under-challenged in their roles.
This survey encompassed various industries, including financial services, legal services, insurance, and health care, collecting over 443 million hours of digital workplace activity from 1,111 organizations and 163,638 employees over three years.
Concurrently, a study published in the Harvard Business Review earlier this month highlighted a phenomenon known as “AI brain fry,” which is described as “a significant and real issue.”
In the study, researchers defined “AI brain fry” as “mental fatigue resulting from excessive interaction with or oversight of AI tools beyond one’s cognitive capacity.” They elaborated that brain fry resembles a mental hangover characterized by difficulty concentrating, delayed decision-making, and headaches, necessitating pauses to ‘reset.’
Marketing professionals were particularly affected, with 25.9 percent reporting occurrences of brain fry, followed by 19.3 percent in human resources, 17.9 percent in operations, 17.8 percent in engineering/software development, and 16.7 percent in finance and accounting.
The study indicated that oversight of AI tools was the most mentally taxing, with 14 percent of respondents expressing it required “increased mental effort at work.”
High levels of AI oversight led to a 12 percent increase in mental fatigue among participants. It also predicted a 19 percent rise in information overload.
Are employees being ‘under-challenged’?
According to the ActivTrak report, organizations are now employing an average of seven AI tools, up from just two in 2023.
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Stephanie Enders, Chief Delivery Officer at the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute, noted that this aspect of the report intrigued her. “To fully benefit from these tools, foundational literacy is crucial,” she explained. “It enables you to select the right tools and enhances your fluency with them, facilitating quicker adaptation.”
Enders added, “It’s not perhaps solely that AI influences behaviors; it may amplify existing dynamics within a business.”
The report highlights a five percent rise in productive hours, with an average of six hours and thirty-six minutes per day, even as “the average workday decreased by two percent.” This indicates that more tasks are being completed in less time.
Collaboration time surged by 34 percent, now representing 13 percent of all productive hours, up from 10 percent in 2023.
With the widespread adoption of AI in workplaces, time spent on various applications soared, with increases ranging from 27 percent to 346 percent. This includes a 104 percent rise in email usage, a 145 percent increase in chat and messaging, and a 94 percent uptick in business management tools.
Conversely, time spent on focused work has decreased.
The ActivTrak report notes that “focus efficiency—the proportion of total work time dedicated to uninterrupted work—dipped to 60 percent in 2025, reflecting a five percent decline since 2023.”
Average focus session duration also fell by nine percent, from 14 minutes and 23 seconds to 13 minutes and 7 seconds. Focused hours decreased by an additional two percent (equivalent to four minutes).
Despite the increased use of AI tools, the average daily focused time for users has diminished by 23 minutes.
“More employees than ever appear to be chronically under-challenged rather than overextended,” the report concludes.
A significant 46 percent increase was also noted in “productive hours” on Saturdays, averaging four hours and thirty-seven minutes, while productive hours on Sundays rose by 58 percent.
“As emerging technologies permeate our work environments, ongoing assessment of their impact is vital. This allows us to adapt and make better choices as individuals,” stated Enders.
“AI tools can often serve as a reflection of the existing practices in your organization,” Enders observed. “If focused workspaces are limited, AI may exacerbate the challenge, making it harder to carve out dedicated focus time.”
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