Anthropic can’t keep up with its own AI either

AI made work faster, so why is everyone busier? The Jevons paradox explains it, plus a 4-step system to stop checking everything AI makes for you.

Anthropic can’t keep up with its own AI either

TL;DR

  • AI tools initially save time but lead to increased workloads as saved time is filled with more tasks.
  • The Jevons paradox describes how increased efficiency in using a resource leads to increased total consumption of that resource, applied here to human attention.
  • Parkinson's Law also contributes, stating that work expands to fill the time available, meaning AI freeing up time leads to more tasks moving in.
  • Even companies like Anthropic struggle to keep up with the volume of AI-generated work, highlighting that humans are becoming bottlenecks.
  • The article advocates for a shift from trying to check all AI outputs to intentionally choosing what to review, reducing the spread of attention.
  • This approach is compared to factory quality control methods from the 1920s, where sampling and standards replaced full inspection.
  • A system is needed to filter AI outputs, directing human attention only to what truly matters, similar to how we prioritize reviewing different types of colleague work.