AI was supposed to free us from work. At the moment the engineers who develop it work 100 hours a week

He impact of AI on work It fills many pages. On the one hand, it is presented as a threat to many jobs. On the other hand, a much more positive vision in which AI frees us from the burden of work so we can enjoy life. For now, what we do know for sure has been true is that the engineers who work in AI companies are working endless hours.

what’s happening. We already talked about what Silicon Valley was embracing the 996th journey that China had already left behind. We are talking about twelve-hour days, six days a week, that is, 72 hours a week. Several AI engineers have in the WSJ that the days reach even 80 and even 100 hours per week, even comparing the situation with war. We are talking about large companies like OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, Anthropic or Google, all competing to be the best in the frenetic AI race.

May the rhythm not stop. The innovation cycle is crazy; Almost every week new models and new tools are announced that are not made alone. In the main AI laboratories there is no rest. Josh Batson, an engineer at Anthropic, defines it in a very graphic way: “we are basically trying to compress 20 years of scientific progress into two years.” In the small startups in the valley, things don’t change much and it is becoming more and more common that people are required to work 996 in the job interviews themselves. “We do not offer conciliation,” said the CEO of one of them.

The urgency of the AGI. Furthermore, there is artificial general intelligence or AGI, that superintelligence that gurus like Altman either Musk They don’t stop mentioning. Especially in the case of OpenAI, getting the AGI is already a matter of survival. It would be a perfect argument to justify the parade of stratospheric investments of the last few weeks that have fueled bubble fears.

Millionaire salaries. Over the summer, Mark Zuckerberg set out on a mission: take all the AI ​​galactics to Meta. He has managed to form a team, but also that millionaire salaries raise the bar even further in the sector. Engineers are the most precious resource and must be used accordingly. The irony of the situation is that many of these engineers who are now multimillionaires practically live in the office.

Waking up from sleep. Gone are the days when working at a big technology company meant having all kinds of comforts. Google, for example, was a paradise with gyms, cafes, shops… even masseuses when you needed them. The return to the offices after the pandemic was anything but paradisiacal and many of those privileges disappeared.

Until when? It’s a question we ask ourselves a lot when we talk about the AI ​​career. How long will the flow of investment continue despite the fact that AI is not making money (or not enough)? And now too, until when will there be engineers willing to dedicate all their time to AI? There have been other frenetic moments in Silicon Valley, such as the app boom after the launch of the first iPhone. The difference is that this is happening in much less time.

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