Experts urge organizations to better prepare workers for AI implementation

Emma Marshall · CBC News · Jul 15, 2026

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Artificial intelligence promises to make work faster than ever, but for many employees, keeping up with a constant stream of new tools, changing expectations and AI-assisted workflows is becoming exhausting — a phenomenon researchers refer to as "AI fatigue" or "AI brain fry."

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“In any organization, I think everybody’s dealing with some degree of fatigue. These past six years have been nothing but change,” said Sam Jenkins, managing partner at Punchcard Systems, an Edmonton-based digital innovation consultancy that helps organizations adopt AI.

“The unfortunate thing is the change is not going to stop.”

On July 8, global tech giant Meta announced its plans to build a large AI data centre in Sturgeon County, Alta. The $13-billion investment is the company’s first such project in Canada, and it comes amid a wave of proposals for large-scale data centres in the country, specifically in Alberta. 

Jenkins said it’s “really interesting” for Alberta to be chosen for this development, and that he sees this opportunity as “essential from an economic development perspective.”

“This is another indicator that AI is probably here to stay,” he said.

Given Punchcard Systems' work helping organizations adopt AI, Jenkins sees the issue first-hand. 

“The anxiety is real for many folks. I don’t think that’s something we should be dismissing. Both for this particular project, but also for AI in general,” he said. 

Since the wide public release of generative AI technology in 2022, organizations have rapidly integrated AI into everyday work. Canada’s National Artificial Intelligence Strategy aims to expand more, with a goal to increase Canada’s business adoption of AI by 48 per cent by 2034. 

This target of greater efficiency comes with a growing sense of uncertainty.

“Is AI going to take my job? I think that will always be part of the AI discussion,” Jenkins said.

Josh Bourdage, a University of Calgary professor who studies industrial and organizational psychology, said much of the fatigue stems from perceived job insecurity. 

“It is scary to think about being replaced with AI,” Bourdage said. “It creates some hesitancy, and I think some of that is justifiable hesitancy.” 

Increased cognitive load leads to disengagement

Beyond fears of job loss, Bourdage said AI challenges people’s sense of competence and psychological safety — two factors closely tied to workplace well-being.

“People start to have this deep sense of fatigue with the increased use of AI. It’s comprised of this increased cognitive load,” he said. 

The cognitive load he describes comes from constantly learning systems, reviewing AI-generated work and adapting to changing expectations about how and when AI should be used.

“When you pair that with mixed or changing expectations about the use of AI … you start to disengage with AI, not want to use it for tasks,” he said. 

The result, according to Bourdage, can include declining motivation, difficulty concentrating during technology-heavy work and an overall sense of exhaustion. 

The rate of AI expansion is outpacing current research methods, leaving much to be discovered about the state of AI fatigue. 

But Bourdage believes organizations have an important role to play in reducing that burden. 

“Organizations and individuals developing AI competency and AI literacy will be very helpful in terms of minimizing that burden,” Bourdage said.

'It can feel like cutting a corner'

This sentiment is echoed by leaders across the workforce who embrace AI while remaining healthily skeptical over its functions.

“We are over-indexing on efficiency,” said Nadia Ciani, president and co-founder of Scale Staffing, a Toronto-based staffing partner. 

“As organizations, we have moved away from thinking about the culture we want to create … and what experience we want our employees to have.” 

Ciani sees a place for AI in the workplace, but believes organizations need to be more intentional about how they use it. 

“AI has taught us how to measure speed,” she said. “We certainly know we can do things faster. The question we need to ask ourselves is also, ‘Are we doing it better?’”

She sees that tension most clearly in recruitment. 

“As much as it’s part of speeding up some of the recruiting process, we also believe there’s a very important place for human interaction and human judgement,” she said. 

“The promise for technology was better hiring. But too often, what’s really happening is we are settling for faster rejection.”

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Emma Hackett, recruitment and employee experience co-ordinator at Big Rock Brewery in Calgary, also relies on AI for hiring processes and administrative work, but admits using it can come with unexpected guilt. 

“It can feel like cutting a corner,” she said. “Am I good at my job or do I just have a really great tool helping me?” 

Bourdage said the individual differences in the willingness to use AI are what breeds guilt and fatigue.

“There are certain people who are simply more comfortable using AI than others,” Bourdage said.

“Organizations are often implementing AI without making sure that they are ready for AI.”

Source: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/ai-fatigue-sam-jenkins-punchcard-systems-alberta-9.7265864