AI Productivity Study: How It Affects Employee Work

The largest study of its kind on AI productivity has just been released.

It covered 163,000 employees over three years through monitoring software.

Results:

• Time spent on email: increased by 104% compared to the pre-AI era
• Time spent in chats/messaging apps: increased by 145%
• Time spent in business management tools: increased by 95%
• Time worked on Saturdays: increased by 46%
• Time worked on Sundays: increased by 58%

Time in deep focus mode: decreased by 9%

The data confirms the results of a separate detailed study by a tech company involving 200 people.

The main conclusion: «AI does not reduce work — it intensifies it».

Part of the productivity gain is consumed by employees with «fried brains» who make costly mistakes 39% more often.

This is either because employees are forced to uncritically trust AI to handle the required workload.

Or because 41% of employees receive AI-generated work junk («work slop«) that takes an average of 2 hours to fix.

A national survey this week reveals that AI has a 26% approval rating, with only 5% strongly supporting it.

Burnout from the doubling of routine at the expense of focus time remains behind the metrics (which, by the way, is the direct opposite of what we were promised).

Sources:

• New study summary https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-isnt-lightening-workloads-its-making-them-more-intense-e417dd2c
• Full study https://www.activtrak.com/resources/state-of-the-workplace/
• AI does not reduce work — it intensifies it https://hbr.org/2026/02/ai-doesnt-reduce-work-it-intensifies-it
• Brain fry due to AI https://hbr.org/2026/03/when-using-ai-leads-to-brain-fry
• Work junk https://hbr.org/2025/09/ai-generated-workslop-is-destroying-productivity
• AI approval ratings https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/poll-majority-voters-say-risks-ai-outweigh-benefits-rcna262196