I don't get these articles. First the author claims that AI made us more productive but now the time we saved is spent on more work (!)
> But here’s the kicker: we were told AI would free us up for “higher-level work.” What actually happened? We just found more work to fill the space. That two-hour block AI created by automating your morning reports? It’s now packed with three new meetings.
But then a few sentences later, she argues that tools made us less productive.
> when developers used AI tools, they took 19% longer to complete tasks than without AI. Even more telling: the developers estimated they were 20% faster with AI—they were completely wrong about their own productivity.
Then she switches back to saying it saves us time but cognitive debt!
> If an AI tool saves you 30 minutes but leaves you mentally drained and second-guessing everything, that’s not productivity—that’s cognitive debt.
I think you have to pick one, or just admit you don't like AI because it makes you feel icky for whatever reason so you're going to throw every type of argument you can against it.
> I don't get these articles. First the author claims that AI made us more productive but now the time we saved is spent on more work (!)
Well, that is a general phenomenon of technology. Technology does indeed often save time at first (in the short-term) but then compensates in a bad way and gives us more work in the long term. Pretty much every technology past a certain point of sophistication does this:
- Smartphones immediately can help us organize stuff, but then they also make it easier for people to call you when you don't want, you get more spam, etc.
- Cars make it easier to get from A to B but then in the long run now we have to spend countless years of work to clean up the climate/environemtn
- Computers make typing and storing information more efficient but now we have to spend countless hours on securing them
The bottom line is that efficiency increases from a technological creation point of view but life simplicity decreases, in general.
There was also no advice for the main problem posited in the first couple of paragraphs. That is, being asked to do more with less time.
The right answer to this is: speak up for yourself. Dumping your feelings into HN or Reddit or your blog can be a temporary coping mechanism but it doesn't solve the problem. If you are legitimately working your tail off and not able to keep up with your workload, tell your manager or clients. Tactfully, of course. If they won't listen, then its time to move on. There are reasonable people/companies to work with out there, but they sometimes take some effort to find.
> But here’s the kicker: we were told AI would free us up for “higher-level work.” What actually happened? We just found more work to fill the space. That two-hour block AI created by automating your morning reports? It’s now packed with three new meetings.
But then a few sentences later, she argues that tools made us less productive.
> when developers used AI tools, they took 19% longer to complete tasks than without AI. Even more telling: the developers estimated they were 20% faster with AI—they were completely wrong about their own productivity.
Then she switches back to saying it saves us time but cognitive debt!
> If an AI tool saves you 30 minutes but leaves you mentally drained and second-guessing everything, that’s not productivity—that’s cognitive debt.
I think you have to pick one, or just admit you don't like AI because it makes you feel icky for whatever reason so you're going to throw every type of argument you can against it.