Interesting research in HBR today about how the productivity boost you can get from AI tools can lead to burnout or general mental exhaustion, something I've noticed in my own work https://simonwillison.net/2026/Feb/9/ai-intensifies-work/
Here's that HBR story in full https://hbr.org/2026/02/ai-doesnt-reduce-work-it-intensifies-it
@simon A way I've been thinking about this is that it intensifies work by intensifying technical debt.
I know there's been a huge backlash against that term, but when everyone is signing off on and shipping 1.5K lines of code at a go several times a week, common sense dictates that you're robbing Peter to pay Paul later.
@feoh @simon I feel like it might not be that. When I feel like AI has intensified my workload it isn't because I'm stuck cleaning up a bunch of tech debt, it's because I have a lot more leverage. The AIs work really fast and can do a lot of work so it's easy to get into situations where the process is blocked on you. Reviewing the work, scoping out the next work, etc.
