If AI Lets Us Do More in Less Time–Why Not Shorten the Workweek?

Power, Capital, and Why Hours Don’t Fall

• Many argue AI productivity gains, like past tech, will be captured by owners of capital, not workers; shorter weeks are seen as “leaving money on the table.”
• Debate over what “capital” means: a tiny elite with controlling stakes vs ordinary 401k/pension savers. Several stress that control, not mere asset ownership, is what matters.
• Some insist this is a structural feature of capitalism: if you don’t own or control the enterprise, you don’t set hours; wanting fewer hours is effectively rejecting current capitalism.

Worker Power, Unions, and Law

• Repeated point: the 8‑hour day and 40‑hour week were won politically by labor movements, not gifted by technology.
• Many say workers today lack bargaining power, unions have been gutted (especially in the US), and nothing structural will change without regulation.
• Others reply that unions are corrupt or make firms non‑viable, especially startups; European/UK commenters counter that unions, strong labor law, and shorter weeks coexist with functioning markets.

Culture Wars, Pronatalism, and Distraction

• Several see “bread and circuses,” anti‑immigrant rhetoric, and focus on LGBT issues as deliberate distractions from wealth concentration and working conditions.
• Thread branches into pronatalism: some feel subtle but real pressure to have more children; others think it’s mostly talk and won’t move birth rates.
• Disagreement over whether the right actually blames trans people for economic decline vs using them mainly as a social wedge.

AI, Productivity, and the Shape of Work

• Historical analogy: calculators, PCs, and industrialization didn’t broadly shorten work; “work expands to fill the available hours.”
• Some equate a 32‑hour week at same pay to a 25% raise; others cite 4‑day‑week trials where output stayed constant, especially when cognitive work is the bottleneck.
• Many claim modern white‑collar work already contains large idle or “performative” components; AI just increases slack while managers still enforce 40+ hours of presence.
• A few propose alternatives (remote work with light daily load, negotiated shorter weeks), but others say in layoff‑heavy environments that’s career suicide.

Global Competition and Long‑Run Outlook

• Global competition (China’s 996, Japanese norms) is cited as a barrier: if one country cuts hours unilaterally, others may “steamroll” it.
• Some believe long‑run trends show productivity eventually improving living standards and sometimes hours; critics respond that since the late 1970s most gains have gone to the top, with wage growth lagging productivity.