# Why AI at work is coming at a mental health cost > Source: > Published: 2026-06-22 21:29:07+00:00 AI promised to make work easier. Instead, some leaders fear it's making workers uneasy. During a panel on AI and wellness at VivaTech in Paris, Europe’s largest tech conference, business leaders and a psychiatrist argued that AI is increasing workplace stress by adding new demands, fueling uncertainty, and challenging workers' sense of purpose. The pressure to adopt AI has increased workloads and complicated decisions about when and how to use the technology, the panelists said, leaving workers feeling confused, anxious, and exhausted. Nine out of 10 U.S. workers are experiencing cognitive and mental strain, according to a recent [study](https://get.headspace.com/2026-workforce-state-of-mind?utm_campaign=43883552-b2b-growth_Workforce_State_of_Mind_2026-May_report&utm_source=press-release) from mental health app Headspace. More than a third say it has worsened over the past year, in part because of AI. "Everybody's being told, 'I don't know what's going to happen with your job,'" said Tom Pickett, CEO of Headspace. "You have to relearn everything, and what you learn is no longer relevant. The result is that people are becoming increasingly burned out at work." That burnout is exacerbated by the pace of technological change, said Dr. Fanny Jacq, psychiatrist and chief medical officer at Eutelmed, a French mental healthcare provider. Rapid advancements in AI are outpacing people's ability to adapt, creating a feeling of uncertainty among workers as they navigate their careers. "Human beings like to feel in control," Dr. Jacq said. "When people don't know what will happen to their job, their skills, and their professional identities, anxiety naturally increases." Panelists also challenged the assumption that AI automatically reduces stress by eliminating work. Pickett said creating more documents and reviewing AI-generated outputs can introduce new distractions. Dr. Jacq added that time saved by AI can be replaced with more meetings and tasks, potentially increasing workloads while eroding critical thinking skills. As AI transforms jobs, employees may begin to question their sense of purpose, according to Emily Witko, head of culture at AI platform Hugging Face. Many workers derive a sense of identity from their jobs, and automating core responsibilities can leave them, as Witko put it, "floating around in space" and wondering where they fit. "If you're missing meaningful work, I think that can actually really degrade your well-being," Witko said. To mitigate AI's impact on mental health, panelists said companies need to deploy the technology more intentionally. That means giving workers clear guidance on when and how to use AI, redesigning workflows around the technology, and preserving human skills such as critical thinking, judgment, empathy, and trust. ## Our Deeper *View* The utopian vision of AI supercharging productivity is being tempered by reality. Companies are racing to deploy AI in pursuit of efficiency and cost savings. But that doesn't automatically bode well for workers and their well-being. As employees scramble to adapt to new tools and expectations, AI can create new problems instead of eliminating old ones. That raises a fundamental question: Can AI improve work if the underlying processes are already broken? As Hugging Face's Witko put it, "If you have a crappy, frustrating process to begin with, just adding an AI tool isn't going to solve the problem."