Why You Should Ignore AI FOMO

Bloomberg News Senior Editor of Technology Shona Ghosh joins Christina Ruffini on Bloomberg This Weekend to discuss how AI assistants may be causing more burnout, as opposed to lightening your workload. Read more in this weekend's Bloomberg The Forecast newsletter. Last year, Microsoft Corp. software engineer Victor Dibia described a curious feeling while using artificial intelligence in his work. Like many other developers, he was an early adopter of Anthropic’s Claude Code AI agent, and used it to write and correct his code. He figured that using agents to pick up tasks would be akin to delegating work to a junior, freeing up time.

“The reality is different,” he wrote. “I seem to be unable to look away.”  Dibia found himself “babysitting” Claude, worried that if he left his screen unattended, he wouldn’t be able to follow what the agent had done. Agents, he concluded, encourage “addictive” behaviors.

We’ve all wished at some point that we were more productive, that there were more hours in the day or that we could even be in two places at the same time. AI agents fulfill this wish to some extent, taking on administrative work like sending emails, scheduling calls and summarizing notes. And they are already pulling people in. An OpenClaw blog post in January reported that the AI assistant, which can message colleagues and friends for you, had 2 million visits in a single week. Anthropic expects Claude Cowork, its general-purpose agent, to surpass the widely used Claude Code.

But Dibia said outsourcing his work in this way didn’t make him feel less busy. If anything, it turned him into a slightly distracted manager. “It’s a bit maddening, because I am supposed to be the maestro, but half the time I am being dragged along,” he wrote.

Researchers are calling this “AI brain fry.” Consulting firm BCG surveyed 1,488 full-time US workers across large companies in January on their use of AI, and found that the most “mentally taxing” form of dealing with artificial intelligence is overseeing it. Using AI to replace some tedious tasks does cut burnout, they found, but the combination of an increased workload and the added responsibility of managing the AI tools led to higher mental fatigue.

AI is too alluring a productivity driver for companies to resist. But those on the front lines may need to learn to set new boundaries. — Shona Ghosh, Bloomberg Technology

--------

Watch Bloomberg Radio LIVE on YouTube

Weekdays 7am-6pm ET

Follow us on X

Subscribe to our Podcasts:

Bloomberg Daybreak

Bloomberg Surveillance

Bloomberg Intelligence

Balance of Power

Bloomberg Businessweek

Listen on Apple CarPlay and Android Auto with the Bloomberg Business app:

Apple CarPlay

Android Auto

Visit our YouTube channels:

Bloomberg Podcasts

Bloomberg Television

Bloomberg Originals