Comment by wiseowise
> What you hypothesize could also be true, it the mental load is reduced, can you sustain a higher productivity for longer? We don't know, maybe.
It's not maybe, it's confirmed fact. Otherwise there wouldn't be burnout epidemic.
> What you hypothesize could also be true, it the mental load is reduced, can you sustain a higher productivity for longer? We don't know, maybe.
It's not maybe, it's confirmed fact. Otherwise there wouldn't be burnout epidemic.
Except the causes of burnout have almost nothing to do with the type of cognitive load associated with coding, debugging, etc.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in...
Of the six general causes listed, four are institutional or social, having to do more with the workplace or coworkers: lack of control, lack of clarity, interpersonal conflicts, lack of support. IME, in tech, these are far more common causes and more deeply tied to the root of the issue than specifics of work.
The remaining two are productivity-related issues: too much/little to do, problems with WLB.
I would note these are tied into lack of control/clarity/support, and conflict. In a healthy work environment, expectations should be clear and at least somewhat flexible depending on employee feedback, and adequate support should be provided by the employer.
That aside, it's unclear, and I would argue unlikely, that AI-related productivity gains will help with workload issues. If you do disproportionately more work in an overworked team/org, you will simply be given more work. If many people see gains in productivity, then either the bar for productivity goes up, or there's layoffs. Even if you manage to squeak by / quiet quit with much reduced cognitive load for coding, and that's most of your job, unless you are fully remote the most likely change is your butt-in-seat time will go from "mentally taxing coding" to "mentally toxic doomscrolling."