Jeff Bezos says AI could result in a 3-day work week

The downside of AI’s productivity gains, he added, is that there could be a labor shortage as people work less.

Big promises

Bezos is hardly the first tech executive to tout the expected benefits of AI and its impact on the amount of time people will work. Elon Musk, last year, predicted work will be “optional” as AI robotics become more advanced.

And in April, OpenAI released a 13-page document proposing a public wealth fund that would give everyone (not just investors) a stake in economic growth that comes from AI, as well as a 32-hour work week, with a 40-hour paycheck.

Even Sam Altman, however, admitted that might not happen. “These ideas are ambitious, but intentionally early and exploratory,” the document reads. “We offer them not as a comprehensive or final set of recommendations, but as a starting point for discussion.”

Bezos, though, is touting an even shorter work week than OpenAI — and said AI will open up new career prospects for people that might be closed off today, taking the opportunity to promote the work being done by the AI startup Prometheus, which he co-founded and serves as co-CEO.

“We’re going to make the tools so easy to use that anyone will be able to be an engineer,” he said.

Shorter days or additional work?

While the promise of shorter workdays will certainly appeal to people who hold more than one job or feel overworked at their current one, the reality of that promise will require employers to allow it. And, so far, there’s no indicator they’re inclined to do so.