🤖 AI Was Supposed to Save Us Time

• AI doesn’t reduce work—it intensifies it

• Employees move faster, do more, and work longer (often willingly)

• Productivity spikes early… burnout follows later 😮‍💨

• The real solution isn’t less AI—it’s better AI habits

• Companies need an AI practice, not just AI tools

Before we dive in, here’s the lay of the land:

• Who: Employees across engineering, product, design, research, and operations

• What: How generative AI reshapes daily work habits

• When: Over an eight-month research period

• Where: A U.S.-based technology company (~200 employees)

• Why: To understand whether AI truly reduces work—or quietly expands it

Now let’s talk about what actually happened 👇

AI promised us freedom.

What it delivered was momentum—relentless, addictive momentum.

At first, it feels magical ✨

Then one day you realize your lunch break answered emails, your evening ran “just one more prompt,” and your brain hasn’t been offline in weeks.

The dream was simple:

But reality had other plans.

New research shows that AI doesn’t shrink workloads.

It supercharges them.

People didn’t work less.

They worked faster, broader, and longer—often without being asked.

And here’s the twist:

They liked it… at first 😬

🔍 How AI Quietly Intensifies Work

The research uncovered three powerful shifts—all subtle, all compounding.

1️⃣ Task Expansion: “I Can Do That Now” Energy ⚡

AI fills knowledge gaps instantly.

So people stretch beyond their original roles.

• Designers start coding

• Product managers debug

• Researchers do engineering work

It feels empowering.

It is empowering.

But over time, these experiments stack up into:

• Wider job scope

• Fewer handoffs

• More responsibility—without more support

AI makes doing more feel easy.

That doesn’t mean it’s sustainable.

2️⃣ Blurred Boundaries: When Work Becomes Ambient 🌫️

AI removes friction.

No blank page.

No slow start.

No “I’ll do this tomorrow.”

So work sneaks into places it never lived before:

• Lunch breaks 🍽️

• Meetings 🤝

• Waiting for files to load ⏳

• Evenings that used to belong to you 🌙

Prompting feels like chatting.

But chatting with AI is still… work.

Over time, recovery disappears.

Work becomes always available—and harder to escape.

3️⃣ Multitasking on Steroids: Productivity With a Cost 🧠

AI runs in parallel.

So do humans.

• Multiple drafts open

• Multiple agents running

• Multiple tasks revived “because AI can handle it”

The illusion?

You have a partner.

The reality?

Constant attention switching, growing cognitive load, and a sense of always juggling.

You’re moving fast—but never resting.

⚠️ The Productivity Trap Leaders Rarely Notice

From the outside, it looks incredible:

• Faster output

• More initiative

• Voluntary effort

But underneath?

• Quiet workload creep

• Mental fatigue

• Weakened decision-making

• Burnout waiting patiently in the wings

People feel productive—but not less busy.

Sometimes, they feel more overwhelmed than before.

AI doesn’t force overwork.

It seduces us into it.

Telling employees to “self-regulate” doesn’t work.

Momentum always wins.

Instead, organizations need intentional norms around AI use—what researchers call an AI practice.

Here’s what actually helps 👇

Structured moments to slow the tempo just enough.

• Reflection checkpoints

• Decision pauses

• Alignment reviews

Not to reduce speed—but to prevent overload from piling up unnoticed.

AI enables constant motion.

Sequencing restores coherence.

• Batch non-urgent updates

• Protect focus windows

• Advance work in phases, not pings

Less fragmentation.

Fewer context switches.

Better thinking.

AI accelerates solo work.

Humans restore perspective.

• Short check-ins

• Shared reflection moments

• Real dialogue

Creativity needs multiple human viewpoints.

AI gives one polished answer—humans give insight.

AI doesn’t just change how much we work.

It changes the rhythm of work.

Without intention:

• Work expands

• Pauses disappear

• Stopping feels irresponsible

AI makes it easier to do more—

and harder to stop.

Here’s a highly actionable playbook you can apply immediately 👇

• 🔒 Create “AI boundaries”

  Decide when AI is allowed—and when it’s off-limits (breaks count)

• ⏰ Schedule pause points

  Add reflection moments after AI-accelerated tasks

• 📥 Batch AI outputs

  Don’t respond in real time—review in focused blocks

• 🧠 Audit task creep monthly

  Ask: What work did AI quietly add to my plate?

• 🤝 Balance AI with people

  For every solo AI sprint, schedule one human conversation

• 🎯 Redefine productivity

  Measure quality, sustainability, and clarity—not just speed

1. OpenAI Frontier – A platform for managing and coordinating multiple AI “co-workers,” giving teams control over AI agents, their roles, context, and boundaries—think HR for AI assistants 🧠📋.

2. Anthropic Cowork – An extension of the Claude AI system that autonomously handles routine tasks (like organizing files or summarizing work) so humans can focus on higher-value decisions. ☕📂

3. Reclaim.ai – An AI scheduling assistant that protects your personal time by automatically creating focus blocks and defending work-life boundaries—especially helpful if AI is making work spill into breaks. ⏰🧘‍♂️

4. Motion AI – A dynamic planner that builds your schedule based on priorities and changing conditions, reducing context switches and helping you avoid the fragmentation that comes from multitasking with AI. 📆⚙️

5. WellBe AI – A burnout-aware tool that monitors emotional and stress signals and suggests wellbeing actions like breaks or workload adjustments—bringing human wellness into our AI-accelerated work lives. 😌📊

🧬 1. Major AI-Driven Pharma Push

🇮🇳 2. Indian AI Breakthrough

📈 3. China AI Stocks Surge

🛡️ 4. AI Meets Defense

📉 5. Market Shakeup: AI Trade Impacting Stocks

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Sanjukta Chakrabortty
Gen. AI Explorer