Marketplace Tech Too much AI in the office is causing "brain fry"
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Mar 31, 2026 Matt Kropp, managing director and senior partner at Boston Consulting Group and co-author of a BCG study on AI-related cognitive exhaustion, talks about 'AI brain fry'. He explains how closely managing AI tools can drain attention. He contrasts managing AI with managing people and outlines business costs. He offers workplace redesign tips and personal coping strategies.
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AI Multitasking Creates Cognitive Overload
- AI can add cognitive load when workers must closely monitor multiple agents simultaneously.
- Matt Kropp explains humans can focus on one thing at a time and managing concurrent AI cues overloads our attention like many tasks competing in the head.
Engineer Describes 'Dozen Tabs' Mental Clutter
- An engineering manager described feeling mentally cluttered and like having a dozen browser tabs open in their head.
- They reread the same material, second-guessed themselves more, and became oddly impatient as symptoms of this overload.
Speed Compression Amplifies Burnout Risk
- The speed of AI agents compresses work that once took hours or days into minutes, intensifying cognitive strain.
- Kropp notes tasks done by agents in 10–20 minutes force rapid attention shifts and raise dissatisfaction, lower engagement, and increase quit risk.