23-05-2025
Workplace Wellbeing: Embracing AI's work-enhancing capabilities to help us work smarter
There's a new sense of anxiety in the workplace. It's called FOBO, the fear of becoming obsolete, it's the worry that artificial intelligence (AI) and new technologies will eventually make us all redundant.
A 2024 survey of 14,000 workers in 14 countries found that half believed their skills would no longer be required in five years. Another study last year reported 46% of employees in the US feared machines would perform their jobs within the next five years, with another 29% expecting to be superseded even sooner.
In Ireland, Government research revealed that approximately 30% of employees worked in occupations at risk of being replaced by technology. Historically, such concerns might have been limited to factory workers, but the research shows that modern-day FOBO affects almost everyone, including those working in finance, insurance, information technology, and communications.
'Almost all businesses, from the smallest start-ups to the largest organisations, are using AI-driven technology now,' says Maryrose Lyons, founder of the AI Institute, which runs training programmes.
'It's impacting most careers. The main ways are through generating content and ideas, automating repetitive administrative tasks and enhanced data analysis.'
Realising that AI has infiltrated their workplace in these ways unsettles some people, making them question their professional significance. According to career and counselling psychologist Sinéad Brady, it can undermine their sense of identity.
While we cannot predict how AI will develop or be integrated into the workplace, Lyons argues that it is an accessible tool for most in its current format.
'For many of us, what we do at work plays an important part in how we see ourselves and how we imagine others see us,' she says.
'If we think that a machine or computer programme can do what we do, we can begin to doubt our own value. This doubt can cause huge anxiety.'
The ever-escalating pace of change can further exacerbate this anxiety.
'We all have a different capacity for change,' says the work and organisational psychologist Leisha Redmond McGrath.
'Some love it while others prefer stability. But what's true for most of us is that we cope better with change if we feel we have some control over it. It's when we believe there's nothing we can do — that change is a wave coming at us, but we don't know when or how it will hit — that we feel most fearful.'
Face up to FOBO
So, what can we control when it comes to FOBO? Brady suggests facing the fear and reframing how we perceive this new technology.
'We've done it before,' she says. 'Many of us were afraid of computers when they were first introduced to the workplace, but we faced that fear.
'When Word and Excel, for example, took away some aspects of some jobs, they didn't make us obsolete. We learned to use them as tools in our work. We can do the same with AI.'
While we cannot predict how AI will develop or be integrated into the workplace, Lyons argues that it is an accessible tool for most in its current format.
'Just as you learned to master the likes of Excel, Outlook, and other software platforms when you first entered the workforce, you now have to learn AI,' she says.
'The American professor Ethan Mollick, a leading academic who studies the effects of AI on work, estimates that it takes an average of 10 hours of using AI tools before they start to come naturally.'
Brady points out that AI can enhance productivity and performance.
Maryrose Lyons: 'If AI frees up six extra hours in your week, use them to engage in critical thinking, researching and coming up with ideas or building relationships with other humans, none of which AI can do."
'By removing the need for some tasks, it gives us extra time for more challenging creative work,' she says. 'These days, I use AI to spellcheck and edit documents. When preparing talks, I ask it to present me with a counterargument so that I can address those points in my talk.
'Using AI in these ways makes me quicker and better at my job than someone who isn't using it.'
Brady also encourages us to concentrate on the human skills that AI will never replicate: 'I don't think AI will ever be able to communicate effectively, think creatively, or critically solve problems,' she says.
'A good tactic to counter FOBO would be to lean into those aspects of our work.'
Lyons gives some examples of how this might work in practice.
'If AI frees up six extra hours in your week, use them to engage in critical thinking, researching and coming up with ideas or building relationships with other humans, none of which AI can do,' she says.
'Have more off-site meetings with clients or sit down with an AI tool to brainstorm new ideas.'
Fight or flight
For those who are overcome by FOBO, despite the reassurances, Redmond McGrath looks at the psychological reasons behind it.
'It's terrifying to think you could lose your job and not have money to pay bills,' she says. 'If you identify with your work, it can feel threatening to learn that you might be usurped by technology. There's something called amygdala hijack that can occur when we experience threat in this way.
'A primitive part of our brain is activated, and we go into fight or flight mode, which can make us more sensitive and less rational.'
Leisha Redmond McGrath: "'It's terrifying to think you could lose your job and not have money to pay bills."
To prevent such negative reactions to FOBO, she suggests focusing on the 'building blocks' of wellbeing.
'Make sure you get enough rest, sleep, movement, and exercise,' she says. 'Eat well. Spend time on your relationships with others and with yourself. Connecting with nature or something bigger than yourself will give you a sense of perspective. And if you're feeling overwhelmed, talk to someone about it. It will calm your nervous system and you'll be more likely to figure out more rational and proactive ways of responding to FOBO, especially if you're someone whose sense of identity and purpose has been bound by your work.'
Talking to coworkers means you might also learn what they are doing to adapt to technology.
'Instead of trying to figure out the way forward on your own, which is daunting, or putting your head in the sand, which isn't advisable, finding out what others are doing and how employers and professional bodies are supporting people like you to retrain could help you capitalise on the positive benefits of technology,' says Redmond McGrath.
Don't be afraid to ask younger colleagues for support, too. Having grown up with technology, Redmond McGrath says they are often better able to use it and will likely be happy to share their expertise with you.
Career and counselling psychologist Sinéad Brady: 'Ask ChatGPT to do something small and inconsequential for you. That could be the entry point that gets you over your initial fear.'
Whatever you do, try not to be afraid of technology. 'It's just a tool and it's possible to play with it,' says Brady. 'Ask ChatGPT to do something small and inconsequential for you. That could be the entry point that gets you over your initial fear.'
While noting the many benefits, Brady strikes a note of caution.
'The information it provides you with is based on data that isn't always accurate and that can be biased,' she says. 'AI and all modern technology are only ever as good as the information fed to them, which is why we should always question it for accuracy, assess it for quality, and not rely on it too much.'
Despite AI's limitations, Lyons urges people to to overcome their FOBO and explore what it offers.
'There are so many tools that are being used in all sorts of jobs and they are changing how people work for the better,' she says. 'It could be career-ending to ignore these tools. My advice is to engage and find out how this new technology can help us perform better and gain more satisfaction from our work.'
