Every time technology changes, we tell two stories. One about what we're losing. One about what we might gain.
AI is already taking over a lot of routine work, the templated emails, the data entry, the meeting notes. And the optimistic take is that this frees us up for deeper work. More time for creativity, strategy, human connection. The stuff that actually matters.
I want to believe that. But I don't think it happens automatically.
Because here's what we've seen before: productivity tools were supposed to give us time back, but we usually just filled that time with more work. Email made communication faster, so we sent more emails. Spreadsheets made analysis easier, so we analyzed more things. Every efficiency gain tends to get absorbed into doing more, not thinking deeper.
So yes, AI could give us back human attention. But it depends on what we do with it. Whether organizations see automation as a chance to do better work, or just a way to do more work with fewer people. Whether we use the freed-up time to actually focus, or just pack in another meeting.
AI isn't the end of human contribution. It's an opening. What happens next is still up to us.