I read this article recently on how AI has resulted in us working more, not less:
https://hbr.org/2026/02/ai-doesnt-reduce-work-it-intensifies-it
This has been my experience. I work for a tech company (and AI company, actually. The irony.) and started using AI to lessen my workload about 3 years ago. It was great for the first couple of years; projects that took days or even weeks could be completed within a couple hours.
But then my company started cracking down on people not working a full 40 hour week, so we’ve all had to take on additional projects to fill the time. Which doesn’t seem bad at first glance - 40 hours is 40 hours, right? But the cognitive load of doing dozens of new tasks, and the task switching that comes along with it, gets exhausting. Managers keep dumping random ideas they have because “just use AI, it won’t take that long!” AI was supposed to make us work less, but it’s just forced us to produce more.
Anyone else find this true in their job? The demand for more and more output is giving me burnout.