Is AI “mental load” becoming the new RSI in the digital workplace?

As AI agents take on routine tasks, occupational health experts warn that the psychological burden of supervising autonomous systems – from hallucinations to hidden workloads – could replace repetitive strain injury (RSI) as the defining risk of digital work.

For decades, occupational health has focused on visible, physical harms, such as repetitive strain injury, back pain, and ergonomic issues related to workstation design. But as work becomes increasingly digital and automated, the risks are shifting.

The strain of the AI-powered workplace is less likely to be physical and more likely to be psychological: a cumulative burden of vigilance, accountability, and decision-making as humans manage machines that appear increasingly autonomous.

AI replaces drudge with complexity

While AI is taking on work across the global economy, it may also create new demands on the human workforce that employers must anticipate and respond to quickly.

On one hand, researchers from Microsoft and Imperial College London write in The Society of Occupational Medicine’s (SOM) journal that AI tools will bring clear benefits to the workplace.

In occupational health, AI is expected to simplify and automate administrative processes such as booking appointments, managing schedules, and improving access to workplace health support.

Clinicians, too, are increasingly using AI to manage, track, and analyse workplace health data, potentially improving capacity and consistency across organizations.

However, the researchers stress that as AI becomes more deeply embedded in daily workflows, it will simultaneously create its own new health challenges.

While much of the public conversation around AI has focused on job displacement, the authors of the paper argue that for many workers, AI will instead become a constant presence alongside their role – fundamentally changing how that role functions.

While the “drudgery” of day-to-day tasks may be reduced, the work that remains is likely to be more complex, less predictable, and more mentally demanding.

Supervising AI creates hidden workloads

“As AI absorbs routine tasks, human roles may shift toward stewardship, problem solving, or emotional labour, all with their own psychological demands,” said the research team, led by Imperial clinical research fellow Dr. Lara Shemtob.

Workers who previously operated independently may now be expected to manage multiple AI agents, briefing them, reviewing outputs, correcting mistakes, and iterating management practices as both organizations and technology evolve.

“It is essential that the demand for supervising AI is quantified, acknowledged, and built into roles as they evolve, to avoid hidden workloads that negate the benefit of automating outsourcing tasks."

Dr. Lara Shemtob

The researchers warn that without explicit recognition, these invisible supervisory demands could quietly erode productivity, well-being, and trust in automation, much like repetitive strain injuries (RSI) once did in the early days of computer-based work.

Hallucination and accountability risks grow with autonomy

One of the most significant challenges identified is AI “hallucination,” where systems generate inaccurate or misleading results.

The problem, the researchers warn, may intensify over time.

Hallucinations could "escalate and become harder for human supervisors to detect as the technology becomes more autonomous,” placing additional stress and responsibility on the workers tasked with oversight.

As AI shifts from single tasks to agentic systems capable of collaborating with other AI agents, accessing tools and datasets, and acting independently, human workers are becoming more responsible for outcomes without full transparency into how decisions are made.

Even those with purchasing power inside companies often struggle to determine how autonomous AI systems truly are, the researchers note, leaving frontline workers with little clarity about the risks they are expected to manage.

Role ambiguity and mental health pressures

As AI accelerates and absorbs more tasks, the study highlights the growing risk of “role ambiguity” – uncertainty about responsibilities, authority, and expectations – which is closely linked to workplace stress and anxiety.

The report notes that AI also impacts confidence in human thinking and critical thought. Namely, it is reduced when the knowledge worker has high trust in AI or low confidence in their own ability to complete a task.

These ambiguities, combined with constant monitoring and accountability for AI outputs, could create a new class of occupational health risk rooted not in physical repetition, but in sustained cognitive and emotional load, the researchers claim.

“AI will alter the roles, risks, and responsibilities of the human workforce across all the sectors that OH supports. Understanding and managing the interface between humans and AI is therefore the next critical frontier for occupational health, and one upon which we must bring our expertise to bear."

Dr. Lara Shemtob

A study conducted by Cybernews and nexos.ai last year backs this concern up — revealing that Americans are becoming increasingly anxious about artificial intelligence in 2025, particularly around security and regulatory concerns.

Workplaces need to prepare for AI mental load now

SOM’s president, Professor Neil Greenberg, said that the research demonstrates why organizations must prepare for AI’s impact on workers now.

“AI, we all know, is here to stay and is likely to become an ever-more important part of all our working lives,” he said.

“The benefit it can bring in terms of improving automation and processes – simplifying and streamlining the way we access healthcare support at work – has the potential to be immensely positive.”

“Yet, as this work illustrates, embedding AI in workplaces may yet come with downsides, especially to workers’ mental health.

“The way AI will change how human coworkers interact and spend their days, how it will change expectations, workloads, and demands, and simply the uncertainty and precariousness it brings to many roles, may create a whole raft of new challenges for occupational health professionals. It is a workplace transformation that organizations need to be preparing for right now.”

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