Workers are already nostalgic for the pre-AI era

We are just a few years removed from a time when AI was not yet ingrained in our office lives, but many workers already wish they could go back. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of 2,500 knowledge workers surveyed by digital consulting group Adaptavist said they often feel “nostalgic” about how work was conducted before the widespread adoption of AI. One in three said AI has already led them to contemplate changing industries (including 46% of C-level executives), and more than a third (34%) said AI has led them to consider an early retirement. Surprisingly, preference for the pre-AI world was strongest among Gen Z workers, 42% of whom said they preferred pre-AI work life overall. Yet most of those surveyed also acknowledged AI’s importance. More than two thirds (67%) said they wanted their organization to increase the use of AI, and 69% said they think their organization is using AI ethically. Why, then, are so many yearning for a bygone era? While some pre-AI nostalgia may be a reflection of sloppy AI adoption policies – the report describes a “verification tax” created by the need to check, correct, and validate AI-generated work – the root of the phenomenon may be existential. AI has w…