'The goal cant simply be AI usage': New report finds people using AI are working up to 90 minutes extra every day

Date:
Wed, 04 Nov 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Description:
New study finds AI users are working longer hours - despite promises of improved productivity.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter AI users end up working longer days, despite the promise of improved productivity, ActivTrak study finds Heavy AI users could end working up to 90 minutes extra every day Software engineers and operations managers found to be among the highest AI users For years, businesses were told that one of the main advantages of implementing
AI in the workplace was that it would lead to greater productivity and efficiency among workers.

However new analysis has found that workers who regularly use AI are actually working longer days than those who don't. In fact, the study from ActivTrak discovered that AI users are often working up to 90 minutes longer every day. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here: AI boom or bust? ActivTrak's report looked over digital work activity from over 9,000
employees at 467 companies between April 1 and September 25 2026, and deduced that the workday of an AI userspanned an average of 8.4 to 9.1 hours - compared with 7.6 hours for non-users, a difference of up to 90 minutes each day.

'Heavy' AI users, aka those which used AI tools for more than 45 minutes across at least five sessions a day, also spent an additional 18 minutes working after hours compared with non-users. You may like Workers are
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These users were also found to be switching between applications more frequently, and had shorter periods of "uninterrupted focus" than other workers.

There was one silver lining for heavy AI users - the report found they spend much less of their workday in meetings, which took up just 3% of their day, compared to 5% for non-users. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

Looking at specific job roles, the report found heavy AI users included software engineers, who averaged 0.6 application switches per hour and spent 78.5% of their active time in core coding applications, and operations managers, who were more likely to rely on browser-based AI tools, and spent 75.5% of their active time in core applications and average 1.1 application switches per hour, rising to 4.1 during periods of heavy coordination.

AI may help employees complete tasks faster, but our research shows it contributes to longer workdays, more application switching and shorter focus sessions, said Gabriela Mauch, chief customer officer and head of the ActivTrak Productivity Lab.

For leaders, the goal cant simply be AI usage; they need to treat AI usage as a means to measurable gains in productivity, efficiency and business performance.

The report comes days after Gartner found b arely any organizations are
seeing real success when it comes to the results of heavily implementing AI
in their workplace.

It found just 3% of organizations have hit their targets around productivity and efficiency, as well as trying to cut costs across their business using
AI, despite three quarters of leaders expecting AI technology to have a significant effect in their organization, with 85% set to spend more on AI in 2027, despite 38% of them already being over budget. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/the-goal-cant-simply-be-ai-usage-new-report-find s-people-using-ai-are-working-up-to-90-minutes-extra-every-day


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