Human autonomy – and mental health – in the age of AI

The corporate rush to adopt AI focuses almost entirely on productivity, efficiency and competitive advantage. Far less attention is being paid to what happens to people’s mental health when work becomes faster, more monitored, more uncertain and potentially never-ending.

Globally, an estimated 12 billion working days are lost every year to depression and anxiety at a cost of US$ 1 trillion per year in lost productivity, with fast paces and excessive workloads listed as major contributors. In South Africa, roughly 13% of employees live with a diagnosed mental health condition, and more than a third experience excessive daily stress.

According to professor Renata Schoeman, head of Healthcare Leadership at Stellenbosch Business School, AI represents one of the most significant workplace mental health challenges organisations have ever faced.

“We are having extensive conversations about AI governance, ethics and cybersecurity, which are all essential. But we are largely ignoring the human consequences. AI is not only a technology issue. It is a leadership, mental health issue and psychosocial risk issue,” she says.

AI and culture
Recent research by Deloitte indicates that individual adoption of AI is outpacing organisational readiness. More than 42% of workers say that their organisations are not evaluating the impact of AI on the organisational culture and its people. Additionally, 30% of Gen Z and 31% of millennials believe their organisation is not prepared for the changes AI brings. Despite high expectations, more than 84% of companies have not redesigned jobs around AI capabilities.

“AI will not automatically make work better. It will magnify the culture it enters. In psychologically healthy organisations, AI may free people from repetitive work and reduce unnecessary stress. In unhealthy cultures characterised by overwork, fear or poor communication, AI may simply accelerate pressure, intensify expectations and increase burnout,” Renata explains.

“The popular fear is that AI will replace everyone. That makes headlines, but it misses the more immediate threat. The greater risk is that AI quietly intensifies work today. Faster outputs become higher expectations, efficiency gains become pressure to do more and constant connectivity becomes normal. Within that, recovery disappears,” she notes.

“People may find themselves producing more, responding faster and being monitored more closely, while feeling increasingly exhausted, disconnected and psychologically unsafe,” she adds.

Uncertainty and surveillance
According to Renata, employees do not necessarily fear the tool itself, they fear what the tool represents.

“They fear becoming obsolete, losing autonomy or being managed by algorithms rather than leaders. They fear that expectations will rise while support declines. In South Africa, AI anxiety lands on top of existing anxiety. People are worried about finances, job security and an uncertain future. AI enters that reality. It does not enter a vacuum,” she says.

Furthermore, many employees are using AI without clear policies, training or expectations, while leaders are attempting to make sense of rapidly evolving technologies.

“AI has extraordinary potential. But if organisations use it simply to extract more output from already depleted people, we risk creating a future of work that is technologically advanced and psychologically unsustainable.”