Another Crazy Day in AI: Beyond the Myth of Time Saving Tools

Wowza Team
Jun 17
5 min read

Hello, AI Enthusiasts.

Quick check-in: still human? Great. Because a new conversation just reminded us why we still matter.

Turns out, automating everything doesn’t always equal freedom. One author says AI might be making us better… at doing more of what we didn’t want to do in the first place.

Amazon seems to agree—they're streamlining roles, betting big on agents. Also, a recent brain scan study says AI might be helping students write—but hurting how they actually think.

Maybe the real AI skill is knowing when to hit 'generate' and when to think it through yourself—using it when it genuinely helps, not just when it's convenient. What's your take?

Here's another crazy day in AI:

The reality behind productivity promises
Amazon’s AI bet could mean fewer desks to fill
Using ChatGPT might be hurting your brain, says MIT
Some AI tools to try out

TODAY'S FEATURED ITEM: Human Finitude in an Age of Infinite Tools

A robotic scientist in a classic white coat with 'AI Scientist' on its back stands beside a human scientist with 'Human Scientist' on their coat, looking towards the AI Scientist.

Image Credit: Wowza (created with Ideogram)

What if our obsession with productivity is actually making life less meaningful?

In a featured conversation from The Behavioral Design Podcast, behavioral scientists Aline Holzwarth and Samuel Salzer sit down with journalist and author Oliver Burkeman to discuss time, technology, and the idea that productivity—especially in the age of AI—may not be giving us what we think it is. Published on Behavioral Scientist, the episode invites reflection on how we use our time and what we lose when we focus too much on doing more.

Burkeman, known for Four Thousand Weeks and his latest Meditations for Mortals, doesn’t call for rejecting technology. Instead, he offers a more nuanced perspective: that many of the promises we hear about AI and efficiency tools—getting more done, making time for what matters—often end up pulling us deeper into tasks we didn’t actually choose. The conversation covers everything from AI-generated writing and medical documentation to the quiet consequences of always trying to stay on top of things.

Some ideas explored in the conversation:

Efficiency gains rarely create free time: When we get faster at tasks, we typically end up doing more of them rather than having extra hours—like doctors using AI scribes to see more patients instead of reducing their workload
Automation can strip away the enjoyable parts of work: Writers find themselves editing AI-generated content instead of writing, while programmers debug code rather than creating it, leaving them with the least satisfying aspects of their jobs
Human creativity has irreplaceable value: A novel matters because a conscious person wrote it, not because it meets certain technical standards that AI might eventually match
Better filters don't solve information overload: When AI perfectly curates content, we get overwhelmed by endless streams of highly relevant material instead of manageable amounts of mixed information
Living now matters as much as planning ahead: Treating the present as preparation for future "real life" means we miss what's actually happening around us
Predictions about AI often reflect our anxiety: Extremely positive or negative forecasts about technology's impact usually say more about our discomfort with uncertainty than about what will actually happen

Consider how this plays out in healthcare. AI documentation tools were designed to help burnt-out physicians by automating their paperwork. The hope was that doctors would go home earlier or spend more quality time with patients. Instead, many healthcare systems simply scheduled more appointments, absorbing the time savings into increased patient loads. This pattern repeats across industries—communication tools that promise efficiency often just increase the volume of messages we handle, and project management software enables us to juggle more projects simultaneously.

Burkeman's observations touch on something deeper about how we approach both work and leisure. When someone chooses to wash dishes by hand rather than use a dishwasher because they've learned to find meditation in the routine, or when a school administrator voluntarily returns to teaching because that's the work they actually care about, they're making decisions based on what the activity itself offers rather than how efficiently it can be completed. The conversation doesn't suggest we should avoid useful tools, but it does highlight the importance of being clear about what we're trying to achieve. Sometimes the supposedly inefficient approach—reading a full book, having a long conversation, writing something by hand—contains experiences that matter more than the time saved by alternatives. Recognizing this can help us make more intentional choices about which tools genuinely serve our goals and which ones simply accelerate activities we might be better off doing less of.

Read the article here.

Listen on Spotify here. Listen on Apple Podcasts here.

OTHER INTERESTING AI HIGHLIGHTS:

Amazon’s AI Bet Could Mean Fewer Desks to Fill

/Reuters

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told employees that generative AI and autonomous agents will reduce the need for certain corporate roles in the coming years. While he emphasized that AI will shift work rather than eliminate it wholesale, he pointed to areas like software development where productivity gains are already slowing hiring. AI is being used across Amazon to enhance fulfillment, customer service, and product pages. Analysts say this messaging echoes a broader trend among major tech firms: automating routine work while hiring more selectively.

Another Crazy Day in AI: Beyond the Myth of Time Saving Tools

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