Terence Leung

AI Boosts Productivity but Amplifies Workload and Burnout

A provocative new Harvard Business Review article is challenging everything we thought we knew about #AI in the workplace. “AI Doesn’t Reduce Work—It Intensifies It” shares findings from an eight-month study that reveal a counterintuitive truth: instead of lightening workloads, AI often expands them. One line in particular stopped me in my tracks: “On their own initiative, workers did more because AI made ‘doing more’ feel possible, accessible, and in many cases intrinsically rewarding.” Workers did not just become more efficient, they voluntarily took on broader responsibilities, tackled more complex tasks, worked at a faster pace, and in many cases logged longer hours. Productivity surged (in some cases dramatically), but so did cognitive fatigue and the risk of burnout. AI lowered the barriers to starting new tasks, but it didn’t create natural stopping points. This is not about unproductive employees or less than optimal management; it is a structural effect: when tools fill knowledge gaps and accelerate output, ambition and intrinsic motivation kick in and suddenly “good enough” becomes “let’s push further.” The authors call for organizations to develop deliberate “AI practices” that set boundaries, prioritize high-value work, and protect well-being—because without intention, AI makes it easier to do more…but harder to stop. In complex, volatile environments like #manufacturing and #supplychain operations, this dynamic is especially visible. At Pelico , we see this every day with the operations teams we serve. Our AI-powered manufacturing and supply chain orchestration platform makes real-time visibility, predictive insights, and cross-team collaboration feel possible and accessible, empowering teams to anticipate disruptions, resolve bottlenecks faster, and deliver more reliably. The same “doing more” effect the article describes is there: teams handle greater complexity with confidence, and it is genuinely rewarding to turn chaos into control. Yet we also design Pelico to counter the risks of unchecked intensification. By surfacing prioritized actions, reducing firefighting, and giving clear visibility into dependencies, our platform helps teams focus on what truly moves the needle, without spiraling into unsustainable workloads. AI is not going to give us shorter workweeks anytime soon. It is going to give us supercharged capability and the responsibility to channel it wisely. What about you? Have you felt AI intensify your work rather than reduce it? And how are you (or your organization) managing the balance? Please review: https://t.co/UN2OPOxwKX #AI #FutureOfWork #SupplyChain #Manufacturing #Leadership #Productivity @mvollmer1 @morgfair @ChuckDBrooks @Nicochan33 @enricomolinari @NancySinatra @Ronald_vanLoon @alvinfoo @KirkDBorne @Hana_ElSayyed @JimHarris @MikeQuindazzi @Shi4Tech @mhcommunicate @ipfconline1 @kashthefuturist @rwang0 @HeinzVHoenen @YuHelenYu @BetaMoroney @antgrasso @kuriharan @PawlowskiMario @EvanKirstel @HaroldSinnott @terence_mills @FrRonconi @TamaraMcCleary @UrsBolt @pascal_bornet @HeinzVHoenen @SpirosMargaris @richardturrin @Xbond49 @psb_dc @rshevlin @JimMarous @IanLJones98 @Khulood_Almani @enilev @GlenGilmore @DeepLearn007 @KamLardi @debashis_dutta @sallyeaves @EstelaMandela @NevilleGaunt @IngridVasiliu @Eli_Krumova @baski_LA