Canadian workers grow nostalgic for work before GenAI

New research from Adaptavist finds 59% of Canadian knowledge workers feel nostalgic for pre-AI work, and 36% would remove generative AI entirely. The survey suggests AI is adding verification, morale and engagement pressures even as most workers still want their organizations to use it more.

Why it matters: - The findings suggest generative AI is not just changing workflows. It is also changing how workers feel about their jobs. - For many Canadian knowledge workers, AI appears to be creating extra review work, lower engagement and more frustration, not just efficiency gains. - The research points to a growing gap between AI adoption and day-to-day usefulness.

What happened: - Adaptavist surveyed 500 knowledge workers in Canada in March 2026. - The Canadian results were part of a wider survey of 2,500 professionals in the UK, US, Canada, Germany and Spain. - 59% of Canadian respondents said they regularly feel nostalgic for how work operated before generative AI. - 22% said they preferred how work operated before GenAI tools were widely adopted. - 36% said they would remove GenAI tools from the world entirely if they could.

The details: - 31% of workers who would remove AI said it reduces creativity. - 34% cited concerns over misuse. - 29% worried about surveillance and privacy. - 41% said low-quality AI output, or "AI slop," makes work feel less meaningful and more repetitive. - 32% said AI has made them less engaged at work overall. - 38% said they now spend more time verifying and fact-checking AI output than the time they save using it. - 52% said poor-quality AI-generated work is actively slowing their projects. - 56% said it is reducing overall team efficiency. - 44% feel their performance is being compared to AI-generated output, fairly or not. - 25% said they use AI simply to meet workload demands. - 25% said they use AI to keep up with colleagues. - 24% said they feel pressure to improve performance. - 25% said they feel pressure to improve quality. - 27% said they feel pressure to be more efficient. - 60% of Canadian workers said they would like their organization to increase AI use. - 63% said they trust their organization is using AI ethically. - 63% said their organization has been transparent about AI adoption. - 27% said they often do not understand why they are expected to use AI in their role. - 27% reported AI fatigue. - The broader survey found 40% of Gen Z workers and 40% of Millennials would remove GenAI from the world. - 32% of Gen X workers and 29% of Boomers said the same.

Between the lines: - The results do not show blanket opposition to AI. - Workers appear more frustrated with implementation, unclear expectations and poor-quality output than with the technology itself. - Neal Riley, AI Innovation Lead at The Adaptavist Group, said organizations often focus on adoption metrics instead of measuring AI's impact on the work itself. - Riley said AI works better when organizations apply guardrails and support workers rather than track usage alone.

What's next: - Adaptavist argues that organizations need to define where AI adds value before measuring success by adoption alone. - The survey suggests future AI rollouts will need clearer purpose, stronger quality controls and better training to avoid worker fatigue. - If organizations cannot reduce verification work and improve output quality, resistance to GenAI may keep growing.

The bottom line: - Canadian workers are not rejecting AI outright. - They are rejecting the extra burden, lower quality and loss of meaning that can come with badly deployed AI.