Concerns are mounting over the cognitive impact of AI as workers report experiencing ‘brain fry’ – and it’s causing "increased employee errors, decision fatigue, and intention to quit"

AI might help workers complete some tasks faster, but yet more research suggests it could come at the expense of cognitive function.

After spotting complaints of burnout online, researchers from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) set up a survey of nearly 1,500 US workers to understand how AI at work impacts their mental health, fatigue, and more – and they found workers feel overwhelmed and inundated.

They refer to that as AI “brain fry”, defining it as "mental fatigue from excessive use or oversight of AI tools beyond one’s cognitive capacity".

This phenomena isn’t just about feeling tired or a bit overwhelmed. Indeed, the researchers reported participants describing a "buzzing feeling," as well as mental fog, difficulty focusing, taking longer to make decisions, and even headaches.

"This AI-associated mental strain carries significant costs in the form of increased employee errors, decision fatigue, and intention to quit," they described in Harvard Business Review.

AI brain fry was most prevalent in those working in marketing (26%) and HR (19%), and reported by 18% of those in software engineering and development. Meanwhile, 16% of IT workers and around 9% of management and leadership figures reported experiencing brain fry.

The BCG research aligns closely with a previous study from Microsoft that warned extensive use of AI can lead to "long-term reliance" and "diminished problem solving" among users.

That study, conducted alongside researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, found frequent users' cognitive function "atrophied", leaving them reliant on tools to conduct basic tasks.

The cognitive impact of AI

Simply using AI isn’t enough to hurt your brain, the BCG researchers noted, it’s in the frequency and extent of its use, and how these tools are used.

For example, applying AI to automate routine or repetitive tasks doesn’t lead to brain fry; it helps reduce burnout but not necessarily mental fatigue.

"Burnout measures typically focus on the physical and emotional dimensions of distress," researchers explained. "Acute mental fatigue, on the other hand, is caused by marshalling attention, working memory, and executive control beyond the limited capacity of these systems."

The most tiring type of AI use was what they called "oversight", in which a human directly oversees AI agents. Researchers found those with high degrees of AI oversight in their role reported 14% more mental effort, 12% more mental fatigue, and 19% greater information overload than those with low oversight.

Another indicator of brain fry was whether the respondents felt AI increased their workload.

"These two factors together—AI oversight and an increase in workload—increase an employee’s sphere of accountability, requiring them to pay attention to more outcomes for more tools in the same amount of time," the researchers wrote in HBR.

"It makes sense that cognitive load increased, and with it, their mental exhaustion."

This has become a recurring talking point over the last year, with some big tech figures such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang suggesting that AI will make workers "busier in the future".

A recent study from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley found AI isn't actually making work easier, but intensifying it to perhaps unsustainable levels, leading to cognitive strain and burnout.

The AI productivity conundrum

Researchers also asked respondents about the impact of AI on productivity and found that adding a second AI tool can lead to a significant boost.

Adding a third AI tool, meanwhile, increases the perceived rate of productivity, but less significantly. Add a fourth, and productivity scores fell, researchers noted.

Beyond that, researchers found that a third of those who reported brain fry said they also experienced decision fatigue – and that, according to a separate study, could cost large companies millions of dollars a year.

Plus, workers suffering AI brain fry felt they were more likely to make errors at work and more likely to want to quit their role by 39%.

To avoid these pitfalls, researchers suggested managers should redesign work to limit human oversight of agents and build AI tools into workflows, which helps reduce cognitive burden.

Among other suggestions, leaders need to reconsider their performance metrics to focus on impact and give employees enough time to develop skills.

"Cultures, teams, and leaders that prioritize cognitive thriving can expect to see better judgments, fewer errors, and higher retention rates for top talent," they added.

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