'We may see a dazzling array of products and services spawned by AI, but few of us will be able to buy them.' 'We may see a dazzling array of products and services spawned by AI, but few of us will be able to buy them.' The bogus four-day workweek that AI supposedly'frees up' Business leaders tout AI as a path to shorter weeks and better balance. The front-page headline in a recent Washington Post was breathless: "These companies say AI is key to their four-day workweeks. " The subhead was euphoric: "Some companies are giving workers back more time as artificial intelligence takes over more tasks." As the explained: "more companies may move toward a shortened workweek, several You may have come across similar articles in Fortune magazine and the New York Times. The AI spin brigade is in full force. Business leaders are rhapsodizing about how AI will free their employees to take more time off. Zoom's Eric Yuan told the Times that "A.I. can make all of our lives better, why do we need to work for five days a week?

The idea of the four-week workweek is not new. Louis Hyman, a historian of work and business at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, explained that the current five-day workweek composed of eight-hour days was born of factory worker strikes in the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as nationwide union strength in the years following World War I. After workers pressured the likes of Henry Ford and eventually the United States government to adopt the five-day workweek, there were widespread calls for a four-day workweek. Recently, the concept has resurfaced. Companies as large as Panasonic have implemented versions of it, as have video game studios like "Guardians of the Galaxy" developer Eidos-Montreal and indie studios Vodeo Games and KO_OP.

The 89 people who work at Buffer, a company that makes social-media management tools, are used to having an unconventional employer. Everyone's salary, including the CEO's, is public. All employees work remotely; their only office closed down six years ago. And as a perk, Buffer pays for any books employees want to buy for themselves. So perhaps it is unsurprising that last year, when the pandemic obliterated countless workers' work-life balance and mental health, Buffer responded in a way that few other companies did: It gave employees an extra day off each week, without reducing pay--an experiment that's still running a year later. "It has been such a godsend," Essence Muhammad, a customer-support agent at Buffer, told me. Miraculously--or predictably, if you ask proponents of the four-day workweek--the company seemed to be getting the same amount of work done in less time. It had scaled back on meetings and social events, and employees increased the pace of their day. Nicole Miller, who works in human resources at Buffer, also cited "the principle of work expanding to the time you give it": When we have 40 hours of work a week, we find ways to work for 40 hours.

Are four-day workweeks the future? Several businesses have already made the switch, citing improved productivity, happier employees, better retention, and faster hiring. To attain a true four-day (32-hour) workweek, many organizations would have to (A) hire more talent to pick up the slack or (B) accept a less productive year. Neither choice would be useful, but there is a third option coming down the pike: artificial intelligence. AI will be able to improve productivity to the point where working hours can be feasibly reduced for any business, writes Jonathan Crane, Chief Operating Officer at IPsoft.

Here's how technology can help companies adopt a four-day workweekPexels.com The idea of a four-day workweek has been floating around for decades, spurring employees everywhere to picture what they could do with a three-day weekend every week. Employers might be a harder sell, but that hasn't stopped several companies from running the experiment. And, thanks to advances in technology, that corporate policy may become more common in the not-too-distant future. Re-opening this conversation is a Trades Union Congress (TUC) report, "A Future That Works For Working People." The report by the British labor group explains that as technology makes work more efficient, the time savings should be shared with the labor force.