This is what AI is actually doing to your brain, with Gabriella Rosen Kellerman

This is what AI is actually doing to your brain, with Gabriella Rosen Kellerman

From How I Work by Amantha Imber

April 22, 2026 · 35 min

About this episode

The episode explores the concept of AI Brain Fry and its effects on productivity and mental fatigue in the workplace.

The more AI tools you use, the more productive you get. Right?  Not exactly. Boston Consulting Group leader Gabriella Rosen Kellerman studied what actually happens to people who are using AI intensively at work, and what she found is that beyond a certain point, something breaks. Not burnout. Something different, something the existing research wasn't equipped to explain, and something that organisations are currently making worse without realising it.  In this episode, I sit down with Gabriella to unpack AI Brain Fry: what it is, who is most at risk, and why the sweet spot for productivity might be far fewer tools than you think. We also get into what managers are doing, often unknowingly, that adds 15% more mental fatigue to their teams, and the one cultural message that does more to protect employees than any AI policy.  If you have ever ended the day feeling strangely depleted despite not having done anything physically tiring, this episode will name what's happening and tell you what to do about it.  Gabriella and I discuss:   What AI Brain Fry is and why it sits outside the…

People in this episode

Host: Amantha Imber

Guest: Gabriella Rosen Kellerman

Topics covered

  • AI impact on productivity
  • mental fatigue
  • AI Brain Fry
  • manager behaviors
  • workplace culture

Keywords

  • AI tools
  • productivity
  • mental fatigue
  • burnout
  • workplace culture
  • manager behaviors
  • AI Brain Fry

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Boston Consulting Group

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