AI Is a Waste of Time

aiproductivitytechnology-adoptioncreativity

Abstraction: AI tools as entertainment and time-wasting before productivity gains materialize

Key points:

AI music fakes (Ghostwriter's Drake/The Weeknd track, 2023) illustrate AI's simultaneous potential for creative play and cultural disruption
Bowden and Offer (1994): "time-using" technologies (TV, radio) diffused faster than "time-saving" ones (washing machines) — consumers prioritize stimulation over saved effort
ChatGPT went viral partly because it is an "extraordinarily interesting game," not just a productivity tool
Author spent significant work time using Midjourney for creative play (furniture design, friend portraits) — a concrete example of productive-seeming AI consuming work hours
Analogy: player-piano code sheets were entertainment that helped establish the modern software industry — play and work are complements not opposites
Prediction: "AI will waste a billion hours before it saves a billion hours"

Connections: Chatgpt · Midjourney · Large Language Models · AI Productivity · Technology Adoption