AI Increases Workload Instead of Reducing It, ActivTrak Study of 443M Work Hours Finds

The widespread adoption of AI tools in the workplace has not reduced employee workload — it has actually intensified it. That is the central finding of a large-scale study by ActivTrak that examined 164,000 employees across 1,111 companies.

Why This Matters

One of the core promises driving the AI revolution has been automating routine tasks and freeing up time for strategic thinking. Yet real-world data now paints a starkly different picture: the technology is functioning more as a catalyst for additional tasks than as a tool for relief. This challenges the economic models underpinning billions in corporate AI transformation spending.

What 443 Million Work Hours Revealed

ActivTrak analysts compared digital activity of employees over six months before and after they began using AI tools. The findings were counterintuitive:

• Time spent on communications via email and messaging platforms more than doubled;
• Usage of business systems (HR platforms, accounting software) jumped by 94%;
• Duration of focused, uninterrupted work — coding, strategic planning — declined by 9%.

Gabriela Mauch from ActivTrak told WSJ that AI does generate efficiency, but the freed-up resources are immediately redirected to other tasks — which is where invisible task creep takes hold.

The data also debunks the shorter-workday hypothesis: AI users work an average of eight minutes longer per day than colleagues who do not use these tools.

Adoption Rates and User Retention

The share of employees using AI grew from 53% to 80%, while time spent working with AI tools increased eightfold. Since January 2024, the average retention rate has stood at 92%, never dipping below 88%.

Nearly 40% of users have been engaging with AI technology for 13 consecutive months or longer. By contrast, only 9% limited their usage to a single month.

The highest productivity gains were observed among those who dedicate 7% to 10% of their work time to AI. However, this group represents just 3% of all users. The vast majority spend only about 1% of their working hours on AI tools.

Tool Landscape: Expansion Over Consolidation

In 2023, companies used an average of two AI tools. By 2025, that number had risen to seven. Some 83% of organizations now deploy six or more AI solutions simultaneously. Rather than consolidating around a few key platforms, the market is trending toward fragmentation.

ChatGPT remains the undisputed leader by usage time, outpacing its nearest competitor — the code editor Cursor— by a factor of 27. The chatgpt.com website climbed from 19th to 5th place among the most visited sites, with annual traffic surging 145%.

Earlier in February, Harvard Business Review published similar observations. Researchers tracked changes in work habits over eight months at a U.S. technology company with roughly 200 employees, also finding that AI redistributed workload rather than eliminating it.