(Credit: TippaPatt)

Advocates of artificial intelligence often argue that the technology will help workers, taking over the most laborious office tasks and freeing employees to spend more time on harder, more stimulating work. A new study from The Upwork Research Institute, however, shows that AI has so far largely failed to improve worker wellbeing and productivity. On the contrary, AI is increasing workloads, diminishing productivity and possibly contributing to burnout.

According to the study, there are wide disparities between executive hopes for AI tools and the experiences of employees using the tools on the ground. Ninety-six percent of C-Suite leaders said they had high expectations for AI increasing productivity, yet 77% of employees said those same tools had added to their workload. What's more, 47% of employees using AI reported not knowing how to achieve the expected productivity gains.