But many employees are now reporting that while AI does allow for easier and more efficient work in some respects, there are other costs associated with this. These professionals feel that working with AI deprives them of the challenges that make work interesting, and which until now have allowed them to hone their skills and improve themselves.
One such worker on Reddit articulated this sentiment as, AI has completely sucked any pleasure out of my job.
When productivity increases but satisfaction decreases
In general, jobs are considered to be satisfying when they allow the worker to experience a sense of accomplishment due to the challenge and difficulties of the work overcome. This is because through challenging work one feels that they have grown and improved as a result of the work, which brings a sense of pride and satisfaction. For example, a young software developer might feel this sense of accomplishment when after days of grappling with a particularly obstinate software bug, he is finally successful at finding the source of the defect and fixing it.
Image credit : Magnific | AI is helping employees finish tasks faster than ever, but many now fear they are losing skills
Now compare that to the scenario where he just asks his AI assistant to find the error and correct it. In the first situation the developer has gained valuable experience and a feeling of accomplishment, while in the second the work was easy but he had few skills applied.
This has made some of these professionals wonder if the work they do with AI is robbing them of challenges and hence making them less satisfied with their work.
The fear of losing skills as challenges are taken away
While many fear that AI will take away their jobs they are growing more concerned about the fact that as these systems take on more and more of the work, employees risk losing their skills.
Challenges are necessary for building skills. For instance, when an employee learns to type, he gets progressively better at it through a trial and error process. Similarly, when we learn new subjects, the process of trial and error allows us to grasp and improve our ability in areas that require skills to function. As AI takes over more and more of these processes, there is a lingering fear that one’s abilities in these areas will erode.
Image credit : Magnific | For years, technology in the workplace has been heralded as a means of streamlining an employee’s work
This is of particular concern right now since many workers are anticipating that the economy is going to change in the near future, and many of them will need to apply for new jobs, or interview for different positions than they are currently filling. In such circumstances, one needs a sense of accomplishment and confidence in one’s skills to be able to get a new position. But when AI is taking on so much work, these workers wonder whether they will actually have the proficiency in these areas when they need it most.
What workers are saying to this issue
On Reddit, one worker stated that AI has taken away all the exciting parts of his job, as AI does most of the hard work. This has had the effect of leaving him bored since he is not actively thinking about the challenges as much as before. Another worker added that after shifting to a firm that had very advanced AI tools, the work became too easy, which made him feel unfulfilled. As a solution he ended up shifting to another firm in the same industry where at least he had to understand the product and work through the problems, which made him feel more accomplished.Other workers on the same Reddit thread added that they fear that they will not develop good enough skills because AI is taking over many of the routine activities that were previously the backbone of their work. Another gripe with similar sentiment was that younger workers are relying too much on AI to do their work, which in turn will negatively impact their skills as they would not have the basic foundation to understand some of these issues, or know how to correct the errors that AI makes.
Why humans need challenges
Psychologists have long since studied the concept of mastery as it relates to one’s relationship to work. It is generally established that people seem to be happiest with their jobs when they feel that they can grow and develop competencies in their field. In fact workers even seem to find hobbies to be better when engaging in activities that require some skills, even when such challenges are painful (e.g. weight training). There is a certain sense of accomplishment that comes from overcoming difficult processes that allow us to increase our skills and improve ourselves. Work is similarly satisfying when one finds a feeling of self-accomplishment after mastering new skills.
Image credit : Magnific | AI does allow for easier and more efficient work in some respects
This concept goes a long way to explaining why some workers are now finding their work being made much more easy by AI to be overall dissatisfying. It does not mean that AI is bad, but it does mean that there is a place for challenges as a part of work.
The real question is not about AI
While the issues raised by employees are around the technology of AI, the real issue seems to be about their feelings towards work. Many of these workers are not actually asking for computers to be dumber or less capable.
What they are saying is that they do not feel their efforts at work are actually having positive outcomes such as self-improvement or increased competence in particular areas. This is hurting their feeling of accomplishment as well as their self-confidence. While AI can be used to make work easier and faster, it seems to be the case that at least for a number of professionals, speed of working is not necessarily a substitute for feeling competent and satisfied with one’s efforts at work.
