University of Zürich
University of Zürich
03/19/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 03/19/2026 07:17
AI as a Resource and Challenge
19.03.2026 Occupational Health
AI as a Resource and Challenge
AI is meant to make work easier, but it's also creating uncertainty. How can we maintain mental health in our AI-driven world of work? This is the topic that UZH professor of psychology Laurenz L. Meier will be talking about at the After the Algorithm festival in Zurich on 24 March.
Brigitte Blöchlinger
AI can be a helpful tool in the workplace, but it also creates uncertainty among employees and those just starting their careers, explains occupational psychologist Laurenz L. Meier. (Image: NFP 77/Beat Glogger)
Laurenz L. Meier, professor of work and organizational psychology, has been researching work stress and health, work/life balance, counterproductive behavior at the workplace and the sense of self-worth in a work context at UZH since February of this year. On 24 March, Meier will be attending the ATA festival in Zurich and taking part in the panel discussion entitled The Future of the World of Work in the Age of AI (event in German). In this interview, he gives some context to the topic.
Laurenz Meier, is AI a source of stress for employees?
I wouldn't currently classify AI as a major stress factor, though it's fair to say that we all tend to be wary and fearful of any big changes. Many professionals are already using AI - both in their private lives and every day at work - and they're curious to find out what it can do and what benefits it can bring. For many people, AI is currently more of a resource than a factor that causes them stress.
How is AI used as a resource at work?
Many people like using AI as a kind of sparring partner: for making corrections and stylistic improvements to draft texts, to help them write or understand texts in a foreign language, provide inspiration when creating a design or check their own draft concepts. They find it motivating to be able to use AI to improve their own work or take on new tasks that they previously lacked the required skills to perform.
AI can even provide support with so-called emotional work, which often demands a lot of energy from employees. It's not always easy to remain nice and provide constructive criticism when you're not satisfied with a colleague's work or behavior. Even in delicate situations like these, AI can provide drafts, for example for a critical email or a difficult feedback meeting.
Many professionals are currently asking themselves what impact AI will have on different occupations.
This is still very unclear - which of course doesn't exactly create a sense of certainty. The level of uncertainty is increased when we see completely new hypotheses about the impact of AI on the world of work emerging every few months. A few years ago, for example, there were fears that many simple tasks would be automated and there would be a boom in the number of IT experts needed to oversee this. But now AI is already capable of programming simple automation tasks itself, so it's starting to affect qualified IT experts too.
Who is currently being greatly affected by the impact of AI?
Professions that are being particularly hard hit are those that involve a large amount of structured information work, such as clerical administration, simple accounting, but also customer service. These are areas in which many tasks are repetitive and digitalized. But creative professions like design and writing, knowledge professions like translation or even junior roles in software development and finance are also seeing major changes, because AI is already taking over routine tasks in these areas of work.
Current study
It's not just AI but also digitalization and remote working that are transforming the world of work. Together with Michaela Knecht from the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland, Meier is currently conducting the study Beyond Places: Mastering Hybrid Work Together. As part of this intervention study, hybrid teams take part in half-day workshops in which they receive support to help them identify the best way they can work together. You will find more information about participation in the study on the project's website (in German).
This uncertainty about what will happen to these professions is a real worry, especially for young people who are just starting out in their careers. They've not yet been able to acquire expertise and so they find it difficult to imagine how they'll be able to work in their chosen field in the future. An argument that is often made is that AI will not replace entire jobs, just individual tasks within them. This may sound reassuring, but it still means that job profiles will change significantly.
Which occupations are less affected by AI for the time being?
Professions that involve a large amount of interaction between human beings or demanding physical activities. Examples include social professions such as nursing, social work or physiotherapy. Other professions that are less affected are teaching roles and jobs in changing environments subject to very little standardization, for example the construction industry, skilled trades or the installation and maintenance of technical systems.
Will AI lead to more or less stress at work in the future?
That's an interesting question. Up until now, we've been able to benefit mainly from supportive AI, also known as "assistant AI". But now we're also increasingly seeing what is known as "agentic AI". These are systems that you don't just ask questions to; you also give them complete tasks that they'll then handle on their own. This represents a leap in quality that will also affect complex areas of work like research.
So a key question is: how can I gain the expertise I need to reliably assess the output of an AI? These are challenges that we will have to grapple with in the future.
Laurenz L. Meier
Industrial psychologist
But it's questionable whether this will reduce stress levels. Initial studies show that AI doesn't reduce the amount of work - it just spreads it differently and actually increases its density. People are willing to take on new tasks that they didn't previously have the skills for, or they'll work on multiple tasks simultaneously and have to keep switching between them. This shortens the attention span and can definitely be stressful.
So what exactly does agentic AI mean for the relationship between humans and machines in the workplace?
Industrial psychology has long championed the principle of keeping humans in the loop, which means making sure humans still oversee any automation tasks. This works well with simple chatbots: the standard questions are answered by the AI, with a human then taking over to answer any difficult requests. But this principle is increasingly becoming redundant with agentic AI. At a certain point, I've got neither the knowledge nor the ability to judge whether the suggestion made by the AI is good or not.
This phenomenon has also been seen in automation research. It's very challenging for people to monitor systems that make very few mistakes. You need to stay alert constantly to make sure you detect any mistakes in good time - and this is really difficult with AI. With traditional automation, the product was evidently defective or the machine stopped. But with AI, the output often looks plausible, even if it's incorrect. This makes it more challenging to control and more prone to errors. So a key question is: how can I gain the expertise I need to reliably assess the output of an AI? These are challenges that we will have to grapple with in the future.
Text: Brigitte Blöchlinger, UZH News; Translation: Michael Jackson
Panel discussion: The Future of Work in the Age of AI
UZH professor of psychology Laurenz Meier will be joining other invited guests on Tuesday, 24 March 2026 at the After The Algorithm festival to discuss the future of work in the age of AI. The event will be held in German
What impact is AI having on the way we experience work, stress, wellbeing and mental health? Will artificial intelligence (AI) take over our jobs? Create new ones? How will AI change the very notion of what work is?
Event organized by: UZH AI Hub and Office for the Economy, Canton of Zurich
Tuesday, 24 March 2026
6:00pm
Karl der Grosse, Kirchgasse 14, 8001 Zurich
The event is sold out.
More information
Prof. Dr. Laurenz L. Meier, head of work and organizational psychology at the Department of Psychology at UZH.
2026 After the Algorithm
After the Algorithm is set to be held for the first time from 20 to 29 March 2026 at the Karl der Grosse debating house and in the Kulturhaus Helferei cultural center, featuring an exhibition, workshops and round table discussions.
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