"When we measured how workers respond to their own struggles and failures, non-AI users showed the healthiest levels of self-compassion. Those occasionally using AI demonstrated a significant drop in their ability to face workplace challenges without harsh self-judgment. Most troubling? Regular AI users were hardest on themselves, even after becoming proficient with the technology, with a 20 percent drop in self-compassion. While productivity recovers with AI experience, our capacity to be a wise and kind friend to ourselves doesn't bounce back on its own."
"Why does this happen? Despite AI tools being designed with "empathetic" features, their simulated compassion fails to provide genuine connection. The constant comparisons between human and machine output, accelerated workplace change, and the unpredictable nature of AI tools all contribute to heightened self-criticism. When an AI tool effortlessly produces work that once took you hours to create, it's natural to question your value. When the same prompt works perfectly one day and fails the next, it's easy to blame yourself rather than r"
More than 1,000 workers exhibited a U-shaped performance curve with AI: performance initially declines during learning, then rebounds to exceed prior levels. Self-compassion, however, declined significantly with AI use and did not recover even after proficiency; non-AI users retained the healthiest self-compassion, occasional users dropped noticeably, and regular users showed roughly a 20% decrease. Simulated empathy in AI fails to create genuine connection, while constant human-versus-machine comparisons, rapid workplace change, and AI unpredictability increase self-criticism. Simple daily practices can help restore self-compassion amid AI integration. Productivity often recovers with AI experience, but self-kindness and constructive self-response rarely rebound without intentional effort.
Read at Psychology Today
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]