AI is taking over the boring parts of our jobs. That's killing our creativity.

"The race for productivity and the promise that we'll be able to do more "meaningful" and challenging work misses a sentiment most white-collar workers like Peggy know: There's only so much creative thinking a person can do in a day, and the sloppy, trial and error process of bad ideas that gets to a good one doesn't lend itself to streamlining."

"AI has supercharged our era of optimization - or at least the hunger for it. Software engineers work quicker, decks materialize with a few clicks, and AI agents manage email inboxes. Gen AI is heralded as the solution to the horrors of the blank page."

"The reality isn't so rosy for everyone. Some are working longer hours with AI and taking on a broader range of tasks. MIT research published last summer found that 95% of AI pilot programs had not had a measurable ROI."

The pursuit of AI-driven optimization in the workplace assumes that streamlining processes and eliminating inefficiency leads to better outcomes. However, creative work often requires circuitous, inefficient methods—like Peggy's approach of scrapping approved ideas and starting from scratch. While AI vendors promise freed time for meaningful work and business leaders suggest reduced workweeks, the reality diverges. MIT research shows 95% of AI pilot programs lack measurable ROI. Many workers experience longer hours and expanded responsibilities instead. Creative thinking is cognitively taxing with limited daily capacity. The trial-and-error process of developing ideas resists streamlining, suggesting that optimization culture may actually hinder the innovative thinking it claims to enable.

Read at Business Insider