The AI Zombie Effect

AI was supposed to help us get our work done faster, so we could have more free time. But what happens when you can finally build everything you have ever wanted to build?

I have been guiding a friend with some AI tips, and I think he has caught what I’m calling the AI Zombie effect.

He was telling me that he is constantly thinking about the different projects he is working on. Every day, he comes up with new ideas. He is not sleeping much. And he is enjoying working on all of it.

But he is also skipping things he used to do when he had free time. Going for a walk. Getting outside. Doing something other than working on a project.

Last year, he came to visit me in La Jolla while I was launching Fitopoly. Recently, he told me that if that trip were happening today, he would not go.

That stayed with me. The projects have become so compelling that even a trip to visit a friend feels like time he could spend building.

More productivity, less free time

You would think that increasing productivity with AI would leave us with more time for everything else. Finish the work, close the laptop, go enjoy the day.

Instead, the list gets longer.

The idea you never had time to try? You can try it now. The project that needed skills you did not have? You can get help with it. The thing that would have taken months? Suddenly, starting it this afternoon feels reasonable.

And once you see that happening, there is always another idea waiting.

You are finally able to execute on so many things you have been thinking about for years. That is exciting. It also makes doing anything else feel like wasting time.

A walk has to compete with a new product. A trip has to compete with a launch. Even sleep starts losing time to one more thing you want to try.

That is the AI Zombie effect, as I see it: your mind keeps working on projects even when the rest of your life is asking you to come back.

I have seen others describe it, too

This feeling is familiar from accounts I have read from other people using AI. There is also research describing a related pattern: in an eight-month study at a roughly 200-person technology company, UC Berkeley Haas researchers observed people taking on more tasks and working during moments that used to be breaks. Some of that expansion happened without anyone asking them to do more.

That is one workplace study, rather than a conclusion about everyone using AI. But the pattern sounds familiar: being able to do more can make it harder to stop.

With my friend, the part that stands out is that he enjoys it. He has new ideas. He is making progress. I understand the appeal. I love being able to turn an idea into something real, too.

Still, when the things you enjoy outside work start disappearing from your days, I think it is worth paying attention.

Maybe Fitopoly is the cure?

Once I find the cure, I’ll let you know.

Maybe Fitopoly is the cure? :)

Watch the Fitopoly welcome short.

I like the irony. My friend visited me while I was launching a project about getting out and conquering the map. Now the ability to build more projects is making him less interested in going anywhere.

Maybe we need to give that same curiosity somewhere else to go. There are streets we have not walked, places we have not visited, and friends we have not seen in a while.

If you feel like you are suffering from the AI Zombie effect, take some time to conquer the map around you.

Your next idea can wait until you get back.