We’re being promised a revolution. Artificial intelligence is said to make work both more productive and more enjoyable by freeing us from tedious tasks and allowing us to devote more time to what really matters. This is the narrative of “augmented work.”

But what is the reality for people who are already working with AI?

To find out, our research team, led by the International Observatory on the Social Impacts of AI and Digital Technology (Obvia), partnered with 11 labor unions representing more than 1.4 million members. Together, we surveyed 4,595 union members in Québec in 2025. Our findings urge us to seriously reconsider the myth that machines universally improve work.

Productivity gains less obvious than advertised

Let’s start with the flagship promise: productivity. If AI lives up to its promises, its users should be able to work more efficiently. However, among those who use it daily, only 44 per cent report a real gain in productivity. Even more surprisingly, 26 per cent report a loss of efficiency because of the technology.

These productivity losses stem in particular from the proliferation of “quick and sloppy” work generated by AI (known as “AI slop”), whose poor quality leads to sometimes significant time losses. This could involve a report that needs to be redone because it does not meet quality standards, information that needs to be verified because it is deemed unreliable, a chain of emails that has become incomprehensible and........

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