Why AI at Work Makes Us So Anxious

If 21st-century capitalism has one central tenet, it’s that innovation rules and disruption drives progress. Yes, innovation is amazing—and it’s also stressful. The act of disruption inherently creates anxiety because it asks us to change abruptly and dive into the unknown. Generative AI is one of the most disruptive innovations of our lifetime. Whether it augments our lives or upends a large percentage of jobs, it is introducing stressors at both scale and speed. It’s not surprising, then, that AI transformation in organizations creates strong feelings. Most leaders I speak with use AI daily in their personal and work lives and see its potential to free us from routine tasks to focus on strategy, creativity, and human connection. Many have come to rely on AI as sort of a companion and a coach. “I never have to stare down a blank page again,” said one chief strategy officer to me, joyfully. At the same time, most feel that AI threatens white-collar professionals in a way they’ve never experienced before. Many have also built a level of mistrust of AI, largely around corporate edicts to implement AI transformations in ways they believe technology is not ready for. They’re also leading teams full of people who have differing opinions and fears about the tools, and they’re expected to keep these teams motivated, aligned, and functional as AI is introduced. As a result, these leaders are feeling anxious—and you might be, too. But unpacking your anxiety can be a superpower during this time of rapid change. In this article, I’ll first explore why AI provokes anxiety. Then, I’ll share tools that can help you name and explore your own emotions and values. What you discover may not singlehandedly change the trajectory of AI in your organization or society. But it will give you the ability to find clarity in who you are and how you want to lead and act, even when the future is uncertain. Understanding AI Anxiety AI anxiety is not irrational. In fact, it is deeply logical. Our nervous system is designed to react to sudden change and perceived threats. When humans lose control or face uncertainty, we feel stress and anxiety; our bodies mount a threat response, flooding us with hormones like adrenaline and cortisol and getting us ready for action—flight, fight, or freeze. I’ve identified three common drivers of this response when it comes to AI: Anxiety driver 1: Lack of control over the speed of change. The way AI is going to play out in society is something that most of us have little control over. So much depends on the companies at the forefront of its development like Anthropic, OpenAI, Microsoft, and Meta—all while regulation lags far behind. Media headlines amplify the hype, and CEOs’ public comments about job cuts fuel a sense of helplessness. The actual technology overwhelms us, too. It can feel like AI is getting smarter by the day while we’re… not. In response, while we may not be literally fighting or fleeing in the office, the flood of hormones in our system might show up in behaviors like overworking, ill temper, micromanagement, checking out … or just avoiding a stressful Tuesday or a standing meeting you dread. Even a poorly communicated AI rollout or casual suggestion of layoffs can trigger the same biological cascade of fear as seeing a predator in the wild. Here’s an example, as told to journalist Brian Merchant: A new executive “casually referred to a ChatGPT model she was fine-tuning as our ‘Chief Marketing Officer’ in front of my manager [the current CMO]. She claimed it was outperforming us. It wasn’t—it was producing garbage. But the real harm was watching someone who’d given decades to his field get humiliated, not by a machine, but by a colleague weaponizing it.” An interaction like this creates many emotions, among them a strong threat response. When we’re publicly told we’ll imminently be replaced, and there’s not much we can do about it, it’s no wonder our nervous system might respond by saying, “Hold up. This feels dangerous.” Anxiety driver 2: Loss of meaning. The humiliated executive highlights another reason why generative AI makes us anxious: It undermines values that we hold and the meaning that we find in work. I’ve heard from people who resent AI for siphoning off creativity and expertise, or think that it encourages sloppiness or laziness. We work for many different reasons; although money is important, humans highly value agency in our jobs, and we need to feel a sense of purpose. When we give over those decisions to AI, what happens to core values like self-reliance, learning, or usefulness? Dr. Ziyaad Bhorat studies the long history of humans’ angst at automation, of which AI is our most current example. Bhorat told me that automation anxiety is fundamental: “To…see those tools capable of performing tasks with less and less of our input is both exciting and unsettling, because it indicates a certain level of mastery and a corresponding level of dependency” on those technologies. And that challenges not just our jobs, but our purpose. As Brian Merchant writes, “We recognize that AI is not sentient, that it’s management, not AI, that fires people, but also that there are many ways that AI can ‘kill’ a job, by sapping the pleasure one derives from work, draining it of skill and expertise, or otherwise subjecting it to degradation.” Anxiety Driver 3: Uncomfortable emotions we prefer to avoid. Like any giant, existential change, AI is going to summon lots of messy emotions, and anyone who’s ever tried to suppress or ignore an emotion knows that it just doesn’t work. The emotions come out somehow, through pain in the body, unwelcome behaviors, burnout, poor decision-making, or poor mental health. To work and lead in the age of AI means that we have to get comfortable recognizing our emotions and understanding why they’re happening. Otherwise, we will be not only controlled by AI, we will be controlled by our emotions. Here are some common emotions that have come up in my interviews and coaching sessions with leaders: Anxiety over losing income and livelihood, a career you’ve worked hard to build Fear of irrelevance Loss of control and self-determination Anxiety your kids won’t be able to get jobs or that all the money you’re paying for college isn’t worth it Overwhelm at the sheer pace of change Anger at confusing or unrealistic demands about implementing AI Frustration when AI doesn’t live up to the hype Resentment at lost resources or shifting priorities Loneliness because interacting with machines is replacing interactions with peers Mistrust in your organizational leadership because you suspect they are not telling you the whole truth about what their plans for implementing AI mean for your own job and the jobs of your team Exploring Your Anxiety About AI Understanding your triggers doesn’t mean that you can stop them. There’s a certain level of radical acceptance that must happen in the midst of overwhelming and uncomfortable change. As the famous mindfulness teacher and scholar Jon Kabat-Zinn is famously attributed as saying: “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” Similarly, today’s AI era demands the ability to summon emotions to the forefront so you can understand them, let them go, or take action. Where to start? First, answer a handful of questions to help dig into your specific emotions: How do I feel about AI in general? What excites me? What worries me? Am I anxious about losing relevance as a leader or am I excited to see what’s next…or a little of both? Do I worry about pressure to cut jobs either now or in the future? Do I trust my company to make good decisions when it comes to implementing AI? What feels uncertain about my company’s AI strategy right now? How does that make me feel? How does my team feel about AI? Am I overwhelmed by the speed of change? You can sit with these questions and ask them to yourself, or bring them to a coach, therapist, or mentor. I also recommend noticing and logging your body’s signals: a tight chest, racing thoughts, or irritability. Maybe this means you should keep digging into specific feelings until they’re a little less uncomfortable. Ultimately, the goal is to become more familiar with your emotions. We cannot act strategically or create clarity if we don’t understand how we really feel about AI. Too often, we muddle through change, reacting to anxiety, fear, anger, and other emotions; our emotions are in charge. When we understand our strong feelings, we’re in charge. Then, consider the role of values. AI triggers anxiety about an uncertain future, but for a lot of us, the thought of AI taking over our lives also clashes with values we hold dear. Emotional flexibility is a skill that allows us to tolerate anxiety while still acting in alignment with our values. So, pause, name the emotion (something you’ll get better at with the previous exercise), identify the value underneath it, and consider a constructive next step. For example, if you feel anger when your board demands rapid AI adoption at all costs, ask what value is being threatened. Is it fairness? Trust? Craft? Agency? Identifying your values helps create a strategic decision, guided not by emotions or impulsivity, but rather aligned with values. For example, you might push for a phased rollout or deeper exploration instead of reacting defensively or ignoring the concern altogether. (For more help with naming and understanding emotions, start here.) To be clear, action isn’t always the answer; sometimes it’s enough just to give your emotions an audience and then tell them to simmer down. But sometimes, emotions are a signal that behavior or plans do need to shift. If that angry voice in your head around the new AI policy won’t go away, examine it. Consider the emotions AI is evoking in you and ask yourself: Does this emotion demand action? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Regardless, you will gain clarity, and be ready to act when the time is right. Action, too, can take many forms. Your AI action plan could involve using your heft to change policy or practice around AI implementation. It could involve your own upskilling or new learning about how to implement the new technology. It could involve committing to a series of honest conversations with colleagues and your team, or investing in activities that emphasize human connection. But ultimately, taking committed action is the most powerful way to put anxiety to great use. . . . Author Brené Brown recently said, “If you’re not feeling unsettled, you’re probably not paying attention.” Wow, does that ring true. The only way we “win” the AI race in favor of humanity is if we honor our most human trait: our emotions, unsettled and uncomfortable as they are. Innovation brings progress and it also brings big feelings, so leading through AI means honoring your own. Remember: AI anxiety is a logical threat response to uncertainty and the speed of change, and if we listen to it, it can guide us to take the right actions.

Why AI at Work Makes Us So Anxious

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