As AI continues to reshape the workplace and turbocharge productivity, a growing question lingers: Who benefits from these gains? In a candid conversation with podcaster Joe Rogan, Sanders made a case for using AI to improve workers’ lives, not displace them.
“Technology is gonna work to improve us, not just the people who own the technology and the CEOs of large corporations,” Sanders told Rogan. That improvement, he argued, should translate directly into more free time for workers. His proposal? As AI makes jobs easier and faster, companies should shorten the workweek to 32 hours without cutting pay.
In an era where Silicon Valley pitches AI as the ultimate productivity enhancer, Sanders’ stance challenges the prevailing narrative. While tech leaders often tout that AI enables employees to take on more complex work or allows firms to trim headcount, Sanders flips the equation: increased productivity should mean less time at work, not more tasks or pink slips.
“You are a worker, your productivity is increasing because we give you AI, right?” he said. “Instead of throwing you out on the street, I’m gonna reduce your workweek to 32 hours.”
It’s a vision many workers might cheer—and one likely to make the Davos crowd squirm. After all, as Sanders sharply hints, “What’s the point of life if you don’t take every moment you can to drive shareholder value?” That tongue-in-cheek jab captures a deeper criticism of tech’s current trajectory: efficiency gains are too often funneled upward to benefit executives and investors, while the average worker sees little tangible change, except perhaps longer hours or looming job insecurity.
Sanders also emphasized that this idea isn’t some fringe fantasy. “Not a radical idea,” he noted. “There are companies around the world that are doing it with some success.”
Take the United Kingdom, where 61 companies and nearly 3,000 workers piloted a four-day workweek in late 2022. The results? Steady revenues (a 1.4% average increase among 23 companies reporting data) and improved worker well-being. Microsoft Japan’s 2019 experiment with a reduced workweek led to a 40% jump in productivity, and crowdfunding platform Kickstarter has been operating on a four-day schedule since 2021.
The message is clear: AI doesn’t have to mean layoffs or burnout. It can be a tool for reclaiming time, deepening relationships, and enriching lives.
“Let’s use technology to benefit workers,” Sanders concluded. “That means give you more time with your family, with your friends, for education, whatever the hell you wanna do.”
