Although artificial intelligence (AI) can improve our efficiency in writing emails, drafting performance reviews, and coming up with product improvement ideas, it also brings side effects—
making us lack motivation and feel bored.
A team led by Liu Yukun, Distinguished Research Fellow and PhD supervisor at Zhejiang University School of Management, found in a study involving over 3,500 participants that after using AI, people's intrinsic motivation decreased by an average of 11%, and boredom increased by an average of 20%. Lack of intrinsic motivation can lead to negative consequences such as disengagement, reduced job satisfaction, and even burnout.
So, in the age of AI, what should we do?
The research team suggests that for individuals, instead of letting AI complete all tasks, one should use its output as a starting point to expand, refine, and build upon. Companies can maintain productivity and engagement by structuring workflows that alternate between AI-assisted and independent tasks, fostering autonomy, creativity, and long-term skill development.
The related research paper, titled “Human-generative AI collaboration enhances task performance but undermines human’s intrinsic motivation,” has been published in Nature’s sub-journal, Scientific Reports.
Paper link:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-98385-2
Human-Machine Collaboration Deprivation Effect: Why Does Motivation Decrease and Boredom Increase?
In Study 1, involving 352 participants, participants drafted a Facebook promotional post either with or without ChatGPT's assistance (Collab-Solo and Solo-Solo, respectively). After completing Task 1, subjects reported their psychological experiences (including sense of control, intrinsic motivation, and boredom), then moved on to Task 2, the Alternative Uses Test (AUT). In the AUT, subjects brainstormed innovative uses for a soda can on their own.
They found that task switching enhanced the sense of control, but intrinsic motivation weakened and boredom significantly increased during task transitions.
In Study 2, involving 793 participants, the research team first asked participants to draft a performance review report with or without ChatGPT's assistance, and to fill out questions assessing their psychological experiences in Task 1, including sense of control, intrinsic motivation, and boredom. Then, they were asked to brainstorm how to enhance a product (i.e., an interactive whiteboard). Afterwards, they reported their psychological experiences again in Task 2. The experimental data yielded the same conclusions as Study 1.
In Study 3, involving 793 participants, subjects were asked to act as team managers and write an email to the entire team introducing a new colleague, with or without ChatGPT's help. Subjects were then asked to report their psychological experiences in Task 1, including sense of control, intrinsic motivation, and boredom. Next, participants proceeded to Task 2, where they were asked to independently generate creative marketing ideas for a specified cleaning product. Afterwards, subjects again reported their psychological experiences in Task 2.
Figure | Overview of Studies 1-3.
Similar to Studies 1-3, participants in Study 4 completed two consecutive tasks and reported their psychological experiences—sense of control, intrinsic motivation, and boredom—after each task. However, unlike previous studies, Study 4 employed two similar text generation tasks and balanced their order, thus eliminating the influence of task type and task order. They used the