Yup, I always say – the hardest part of my job is that if I don't do it, nothing gets done. That copy error on the website. That minor bug. We take for granted the velocity we get by having colleagues. If I get lazy, everything grinds to a halt. And those little nits add up. But I strongly agree it's all worth it.
Can I ask you if you consider that AI changes anything about that? Since I'm embarking on the same boat, my dream is a team of AI which supports and ensures business continuity while Im on vacation or "OOO" otherwise.
If we get to the point that AI can run a complete business unencumbered then the world looks very different. At this time, I have very little confidence that AI today can operate my business untouched while OOO. Nor would I want it to. I enjoy my work and I don't trust AI to run amuck with the valuable asset that is my business.
But it certainly has helped me gain velocity working alone. My business is very hands off after ten years of automating most things and cleaning up the hot paths. Things break, but usually due to external factors that have nothing to do with me. A few support emails and hands-off monitoring is hardly a deal-breaker for me on vacation. I'm not entirely sure why zero-effort is a goal, when you can genuinely attain a 5-hour work week today.
AI is really just a tool and there's a lot of incremental room between "helpful" and "totally autonomous". This calculus could all change one day, but it's not a personal desire of mine.
Even Anthropic consistently says their own AI can't help with meaningful work in their own corporation. Any person that tells you it can is overhyping it. Probably to sell you something.
