• Attrove
  • Posts
  • We're Using AI Wrong—And Bernie Sanders Knows It

We're Using AI Wrong—And Bernie Sanders Knows It

The case for capturing productivity gains as time, not just output

Author

Tim Monzures
June 18, 2025

Bernie’s Bold Bet

Bernie Sanders just dropped this on X yesterday, reigniting a debate that's been simmering in corporate boardrooms worldwide:

While Sanders’ call might sound like political theater, he's tapping into something profound happening in workplaces worldwide. There’s a tremendous amount of sentiment that AI will make people more efficient1 (the popular take is AI will 10x an average employee, but what that actually means is anyone’s guess). So here's the trillion-dollar question: If AI can do half our work, why are we still grinding through 40-hour weeks?

Let's dig into what's really happening when Silicon Valley's efficiency gains meet Main Street's reality—and why the answer matters more than you think.

The Current AI Workplace Narrative

The prevailing wisdom about AI in the workplace follows a familiar script: AI will augment human workers, boost productivity, and create new opportunities. Digital labor's total addressable market could soon reach trillions of dollars, with AI agents becoming "digital teammates" rather than just tools2 .

Here's the paradox nobody's talking about: We have AI tools that can summarize hour-long meetings in seconds, draft emails instantly, and automate routine tasks3 —yet recent data shows remote workers are putting in longer hours than ever. Something isn't adding up4 .

Sanders isn't alone in questioning this dynamic. He recently referenced Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei's prediction that AI could eliminate half of entry-level white-collar jobs within five years, potentially pushing unemployment to 10-20%5 . If technology is making us more productive, why aren't we working less?

To understand this paradox, we need to examine what happens when countries and companies actually try shorter work weeks.

The Four-Day Week Reality Check

In the UK's landmark study, 89% of companies continued their four-day workweek after the trial ended, with 100% of managers reporting positive or very positive impacts6 . But here's where it gets interesting for the AI conversation: the results weren't just feel-good metrics.

77% of workers reported increased productivity when working a four-day week, with Microsoft Japan seeing a 40% boost in productivity during their experiment7 . Both productivity and revenue grew along with reduced employee stress.

The numbers are even more compelling when you dig deeper: 82% of four-day week companies saw improved staff well-being, 50% reduced turnover, and 32% found it easier to recruit talent. In a tight labor market, that's not just nice-to-have—it's competitive advantage.

That may be well and good, but there must be some drawbacks, right?

The transition requires significant organizational restructuring. Companies decreased or cut activities with questionable value, with meetings being a major target for reorganization (as I’ve already highlighted, meetings are often unproductive).

The pushback is predictable but worth addressing. Republicans argue mandates would hurt small businesses, especially retail operations that need extended hours. They're not wrong about implementation challenges—but they're missing the technology angle entirely8 .

We've been here before, in 1926—the word "permanent" betraying the skepticism of an era convinced that six-day weeks were essential for productivity. Business leaders then argued that shorter hours would lead to lower productivity and profitability. History suggests otherwise.

Success depends heavily on smart work redesign, not just fewer hours. The main reason employees maintained productivity was that companies eliminated low-value activities, and workers used their extra day off for personal errands they'd otherwise handle during work time.

The AI Amplification Opportunity

The four-day week works when companies eliminate inefficient processes. AI doesn't just boost individual productivity—it can systematically identify and automate the time-wasters that make shorter weeks possible.

Agentic AI systems can access and coordinate across multiple platforms, creating new interaction layers that make complexity invisible to end users9 . Instead of employees learning dozens of applications, AI agents navigate the entire technology ecosystem on their behalf.

When you combine AI's ability to handle routine tasks with intentional work redesign, you get more than incremental improvements. The human element matters too: workers make around 13% more sales in weeks when they report being happy10 . Shorter, more focused work weeks consistently deliver that happiness—creating a productivity multiplier that pure automation can't match.

❝

64% of business leaders expect the four-day work week to become the norm within the next decade.

Companies that figure out how to use AI to enable shorter, more productive work weeks will have a massive talent recruitment and retention advantage.

The deeper truth? We've been forcing knowledge workers into factory schedules for decades. Most people's creative and analytical capacity peaks well before hour eight of their workday—AI isn't just making us more efficient, it's revealing how misaligned our work structures have always been.

This isn't about working less (although that can inevitably happen), it's about working smarter. AI can handle the routine coordination, scheduling, and information gathering that eats up productive time, freeing humans for high-value creative and strategic work.

The Attrove Approach

This transformation requires more than good intentions—it demands tools that understand how work actually flows. At Attrove, we've obsessed over why teams lose so much time to communication overhead and context switching. Our platform doesn't just organize information; it learns your team's rhythms and eliminates the friction that makes long weeks feel necessary.

Think about it: How much of your 40-hour week is spent hunting for information, waiting for responses, or sitting in meetings that could have been a five-minute summary? When you eliminate that friction, suddenly a 32-hour week starts looking not just possible, but inevitable.

Sanders might be onto something bigger than politics here. The question isn't whether AI will reshape work—it's whether we'll be smart enough to capture the time savings for ourselves instead of just cranking out more output for the same hours.

Your move: What would your team build with an extra day each week? The tools to make it happen are already here.

Learn AI in 5 minutes a day

What’s the secret to staying ahead of the curve in the world of AI? Information. Luckily, you can join 1,000,000+ early adopters reading The Rundown AI — the free newsletter that makes you smarter on AI with just a 5-minute read per day.

Sources