18. Why are tech workers SO unhappy about AI?
episode
Product Impact Podcast | Secrets to unlocking the value of AI
28 min
4 chapters
transcribed 1 month ago
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to the Product Impact Podcast. Why are tech workers so unhappy right now, given the promise of AI? Instead, they're self-reporting being more burnt out, overwhelmed, and pressured. This comes from the recent study done by Noam Siegel for Lenny's podcast. They found that while 82% of tech workers report AI making them more productive—amongst the highest self-reported productivity gains this survey has tracked—
Why are tech workers reporting higher burnout despite saying AI increases productivity?
55.7% report significant burnout, up from 44% a year ago. And their top fear isn't actually outright job loss. It is having to do more work for the same pay. I think one of the funniest things about this productivity data point is, yeah, everyone believes that productivity is getting better, but in the survey itself, there was an open field and they asked what better means. And one person said bluntly, my brain is rotting. My work feels worse. Another person said, I feel like I don't think hard enough anymore. I just follow a cloud. I don't understand what I merge or what I'm working on. There's all kinds of wonderful open field responses that Peter Merholtz has been collecting and posting on his newsletter.
Very much worth the read. But we've entered this period where we don't even know what productivity means anymore. We just know we're supposed to be more productive. Yeah, it's really funny, isn't it? An interesting take that this study had was actually cutting people not from what roles they are or the way that they're using AI, but how they think of themselves as professionals in this AI world. So the first is amplified. This is someone who believes I can do more and I can do it better, which was about 49% of the sample, which is quite impressive. Then you had people who were redefined. They had no clear positive or negative charge, no clear stance either way. They just felt it's redefining and changing their role, but they're not sure how.
Then you have people who are destabilized. They are unsure or less sure where they stand, what's really theirs, how they're supposed to change, and what they're supposed to do in this new world. You have some people who are diminished. These are the people who are AI detractors or who are feeling very frustrated. And then about 3.2% felt that their roles were unchanged, which is surprisingly low. Yeah, I don't know who feels their role hasn't changed in the last two years, let alone two months. But let's look at those amplified people. That's the category I'd consider myself in. And when you look at the data on it, they are the most optimistic about their careers, have the lowest burnout, the lowest layoff worries, and the most likely to recommend their job to others.
Not that surprising. We are the people... allegedly, who are getting the most benefit out of it. But if you ask me, am I getting much benefit out of it? I'm producing so much more stuff, but I will say probably half of it's shit, another quarter of it's trash, and maybe a quarter of it is like, yeah, it's pretty good. So should I be optimistic? maybe now those people who are redefined maybe that's you britney and you can talk about that a bit more your data points according to this show that you're quite optimistic and you're much more likely to recommend than the people who are destabilized so what's your perspective as someone who i think might be in that redefined category Yeah, I'm a little surprised that the optimism is as high as it is.
But I think it can be very frustrating being in that redefined space where you're not really sure in what ways it's being redefined. Maybe the optimism comes down to being excited because everything feels possible. But at the same time, it's really frustrating because I personally...
What do workers’ open responses reveal about AI making “work feel worse”?
I'm not a systems thinker, so I don't think of things as building blocks in the way that you need to to be really successful with AI. And so I often will get results that are really low quality or at least not to the quality I'm comfortable with and have to rework it and have several more turns than you probably do. And so someone who is redefined is also probably more likely to go back to doing things the old way when they get frustrated or hit a wall with AI.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:25
2
Why are tech workers reporting higher burnout despite saying AI increases productivity?
0:25–3:40
3
What do workers’ open responses reveal about AI making “work feel worse”?
3:40–8:25
4
How did Lenny and Noam’s 5-way AI identity (Amplified–Unchanged) predict career outlook?
8:25–28:35
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