| Reckonings |
ISSUE 15
OCTOBER 27, 2026 |
FROM THE QUIET COST
Should AI Make Us Work a Little Harder?
We all understand that people are moving to AI more often in order to get things done. Usually, it’s the trivial tasks or the arduous tasks that they don’t enjoy. But the irony is that a lot of people feel like they are working longer and harder in the age of AI. So, what was the point of creating it, if all it makes us do is work more?
And even if the workload feels lighter, we end up losing the skills that we used to get from doing the tasks ourselves. This week’s studies show that, as all of these studies show a better output, but less enjoyment on the road to get there, and less skills building up underneath the work we are all doing.
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STUDY 01
Better writing with a tool people liked less
Researchers compared an AI writing tool that asked people to set goals and plan the task with the same AI without those prompts. The people asked to plan produced higher-rated writing. They also did better on a second task when the planning prompts were removed, though AI was still available. Despite that, they rated the planning version as less helpful and more mentally demanding.
Read the writing study ↗
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STUDY 02
Better homework without a better exam
Students learning mathematical proofs were given access to an AI chatbot and a feedback tool either earlier or later in their course. Those with earlier access earned 2.56 more points on their homework. On the next exam, which they took without AI, researchers found no statistically significant difference between the groups.
Read the math study ↗
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STUDY 03
A conversation that helped two weeks later
Researchers tested whether a five-minute conversation with AI could help people recognize misleading news. About two weeks later, participants judged a set of true and false headlines about AI. Those who had the conversation got roughly 15.4 of 20 right, compared with about 13.5 in the groups that had not.
Read the headline study ↗
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Also worth your time
Confident and wrong. When researchers deliberately put more false information into confident AI briefings, people's quiz scores fell while their reported trust barely changed. Read the study
Similar pictures. An analysis of Artbreeder remix competitions found that images became simpler and moved toward recurring themes as people built on one another's work. Read the study
Speaking practice. An English-learning class that practiced with an AI speaking tool performed better on speaking assessments and reported less anxiety than a comparison class. Read the study
Paper before AI. In a teaching project where students drew out their reasoning before using AI, researchers observed more structured reasoning and students reported greater ownership of their work. Read the study
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SOMETHING TO PLAY
Try Take a Hint
Take a Hint is one of my favorite games. In it, you have three locks to open and a mystery to work out. Try an answer, see what happens, and ask for a hint if you get stuck. You get to decide when you've had enough of staring at a puzzle and want a little help.
Play Take a Hint →
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The Reckoning
We have all been that person starting a new job at one point in our lives. We get asked to work on a new project that we don’t understand and are left with the dilemma of asking a boss and looking incompetent, or just figure it out ourselves. Maybe we find a colleague we trust and build a relationship, one that has us return the favor in the future. This is hard to do, because of our egos, but it also helps us build relationships we might not otherwise have fostered if we had not been vulnerable. Now, AI offers the opportunity to skip that step entirely. And not just at work, but with a child’s homework or a marital problem that would have otherwise led to you picking up the phone and connecting with a friend. We are attempting to get to the end point of every single situation, without truly understanding that the value has always been in the journey. We keep trying to skip the friction because of how it creates a discomfort, but every single thing we are proud of currently carries with it a story of immense uncertainty and discomfort.
So why are we in such a hurry to do away with the things that truly help us? That give us long term pleasure, joy, and satisfaction? These studies show that technology will help us get to the endpoint much faster and much easier, but will we have any joy or satisfaction when we cross that finish line?
Michael McNamara
Illustrations created with AI. They are editorial images, not depictions of research participants.
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