A man, expecting a provocative or humorous response, inquired with ChatGPT about the “most exciting version.” To his surprise, the AI offered a thought-provoking critique of contemporary capitalism, with analysis focusing on the ubiquitous workplace mantra: “Work smarter, not harder.”
The user shared a screenshot of his discussion with ChatGPT on Reddit. He asked ChatGPT to share his 'hottest take'.
ChatGPT replied: “Hottest Take? Okay, here's one: The phrase “work smarter, not harder” is just capitalism trying to convince you to get more out of yourself for the same paycheck.
The answer confused the user. He asked the AI to explain its position, thinking that “the point of working smarter was to do less work.”
“Okay, let me break it down. On the surface, 'work smarter, not harder' sounds great: efficiency, less effort, more time for yourself, right? But in practice it often translates to 'figure out how to be more “Be productive with fewer resources,” which benefits your employer much more than you,” the AI replied.
The AI explained that when someone automates their tasks and frees up time, they are often assigned additional work. This means they achieve more within the same time frame, but without a pay increase.
“You still work hard, just differently, and your 'smartness' is used to optimize the system for someone else. Truly 'working smarter' would mean creating space to relax or do things that really matter to you, and not just to become a more efficient cog in the machine,” the report said.
The AI response convinced the user. “Ha! Mission accomplished. Once you see it, you can't unsee it. Now you'll notice that every time someone says, 'work smarter,' they're really just handing you a metaphorical shovel and saying, 'dig faster.' Let's channel that energy to work smarter for ourselves.