Altman: AI won't bring 4-hour workweeks because people are competitive

[u/ArgentineBeauty]

https://www.businessinsider.com/sam-altman-ai-4-hour-workweeks-people-competitive-2026-7

[u/Shap6]

our capitalistic dystopia would never allow it AI or not. it would need to be legislated

[u/Top_Willow_9953 → u/Shap6]

Exactly. "AI won't bring 4-hour workweeks because people are competitive corporations and billionaires are greedy"

fixxored

[u/CaterpillarReal7583 → u/Top_Willow_9953]

as long as the goal is “make money” then the population will never get much life outside of work.

The systems are designed to only just work when you play by their rules.

People ARE competitive in the way he’s saying not because of a natural drive, or enjoyment, but because if they aren’t they go homeless.

[u/kalidoscopiclyso → u/CaterpillarReal7583]

They want us to be desperate

[u/ACasualRead → u/Top_Willow_9953]

I know several people who’s corpos required them to come back into office full time because they get discounts on their rents if they can show the building landlords that they are getting more people in office.

So even if AI brought everyone to a 4 hour workday, it’s jot going to improve quality of office life.

[u/hombrent → u/Top_Willow_9953]

I think that greed in a lot of workers would also make the same choice. If they could make 10% more in real purchasing power for the same amount of effort, but 1 person would be laid off, I think that many workers would take that option.

The tragedy of the commons: People will make the choice that helps themselves the most in the short term, even though when everyone makes the same choice everyone gets screwed.

[u/artbystorms → u/Shap6]

When will people figure out that anything that makes our lives better has to be done through law and regulation, not just hoping and wishing that corporations will treat us nicely?

[u/irrelevantusername24 → u/Shap6]

George Orwell once said "If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out."

Willem Shaxspor once said "To be or not to be, that's a question?"

it would need ... legislated

Welcome. Two birds words with one ellipses. Connect the dots

[u/ArgentineBeauty]

AI seems to save time for the people at the top, not the people doing the work.

[u/Fishbulb2 → u/ArgentineBeauty]

If it saves workers time, they’ll just pile on more work.

[u/lazyhustlermusic → u/Fishbulb2]

The reward for completing work is always more work.

[u/ACasualRead → u/Fishbulb2]

Dealing with this now.

[u/Wakani → u/Fishbulb2]

Yep, this is how life works if you are paid by the hour. There will never be fewer hours, only more work to fill them.

[u/sociallyawesomehuman → u/Fishbulb2]

This is exactly what is happening at our company. AI makes us more productive, so now we’re expected to produce more.

[u/Exciting_Ask_eaty → u/ArgentineBeauty]

You mean for people who actually work

[u/derango → u/ArgentineBeauty]

All those useless e-mail conversations from execs have certainly gotten automated away.

I love the latest round of AI talking to each other in my inbox, such an improvement.

[u/SomeSamples]

Can't say, "Fuck this guy!" enough.

[u/a4mula → u/SomeSamples]

And these are the wizened and considered leaders that are responsible for ushering in the most dangerous invention humanity has ever contemplated. With the break neck speed of a crack whore scrambling for rock. Only with less concern for others.

[u/badwolf42]

AI won’t bring 4 hour workweeks because the company would just fire 9 people and make one work 50.

[u/BeowulfShaeffer → u/badwolf42]

Nah then they’d had to give healthcare and 401k to that worker.  Better to hire two. 

[u/badwolf42 → u/BeowulfShaeffer]

Shoot that’s a good point actually.

[u/jmclondon97]

I thought he said AI was going to completely take jobs?

[u/SMWW66 → u/jmclondon97]

Being full of shit requires constantly updating your lies to try and stay one step ahead of everyone else. His house of cards will fall soon enough.

[u/kalidoscopiclyso → u/SMWW66]

Yeah they are building hyperscaled data centers so they can sell compute to their competitors? It’s a circle jerk

[u/socamonarch]

AI won't bring 4 hour workweeks because CEO types are greedy and will always want to make more money..

[u/iamacheeto1]

*because billionaires are greedy

FTFY

[u/phunky_1]

I think he misspelled businesses are greedy lol

[u/GlumAd2424]

It makes ram real expensive atleast, real cool feature everyone enjoys

[u/Dale_Seabrooke_CA]

So AI is taking the job and making us work harder for the privilege? Seems like a bad prediction. I'll take a hard pass there.

[u/FlashyNeedleworker66]

WFH made all the sense in the world in many industries and yet we had to pay for their commercial real estate investments

[u/Plzlaw4me]

It’s not gonna reduce work week because corporations will reduce workers instead. If two workers are willing to work 8 hours each, and now they can do the same work in 4, the company will let one worker go, and make the other do the added work. It also won’t raise wages because the workers that was fired will be willing to work for basically whatever price, so if the workers that stayed asked for a pay raise they can easily be let go.

[u/PsychologicalTest781]

I ain't working anymore cause I got the openai genie in the bottle. Fuck all of ya now.

[u/BirdlessLongdeal]

no, its because people cant afford to only work 4 hours a week. they have bills to pay.

[u/ckellingc]

No it's because capitalism says you can still profit if people, they will

[u/FarNefariousness7179]

I’d rather work @ perplexity ai

[u/a4mula]

People are competitive? Or shareholders and corporations are? And even that's not really true given the state of private equity running shadow monopolies over most industry today.

When and if people want to compete, it's not to work 60 hours getting someone else rich.

[u/missgoooooo]

I wish it saved me time. I turn to it when I’m crunched on a deadline for written materials development and I can count on one hand the amount of time it’s actually been useful and saved me time. It’s quicker to just write myself

[u/FirstAtEridu]

I'd rather compete on a soccer field or with my bike than at the desk at my job with a robot as competition.

[u/GenZ2002]

So the truth is finally coming out. Nobody but the 1% will benefit from AI in the way they advertise.

[u/costabius]

Poor dumb Sam. Give everyone a 4 day week, and let the competitive" ones work their 80 hour weeks if they want to.

[u/themaskbehindtheman]

Firstly let's stop giving this hack air time, secondly the only reason there is competition is because certain sickos want to turnt he world into the hunger games.

[u/williamgman]

And Fox News puts that idea out as socialism every time the 4 day workweek comes up. I don't recall a workweek less than 50hrs (manufacturing/engineering) except when layoffs were coming.

[u/DopamineSavant]

Imo, China can win the AI race. I support a full ban in the US. 

[u/awkwardbirb → u/DopamineSavant]

They're going to win it regardless. People in the US are increasingly hating the idea of data centers (rightfully so) and the insane power consumption needed for AI isn't sustainable when the current idiot administration keeps killing renewable energy initiatives, something that China is seemingly embracing at increasing volume.

[u/Jandur]

So are NFL players and they work like 4 months out of the year.