A man casually asked ChatGPT for its “hottest take,” but the AI delivered an unexpected and thought-provoking critique of modern capitalism instead of a humorous or controversial opinion. Rather than offering a snarky remark, the chatbot analyzed the popular workplace phrase “work smarter, not harder” through a critical lens.
The user posted a screenshot of this surprising exchange on Reddit. In the post, he asked ChatGPT to share its “hottest take,” and the AI quickly responded: “Hottest Take? Okay, here’s one: The phrase ‘work smarter, not harder’ is just capitalism trying to convince you to squeeze more out of yourself for the same paycheck.”
Taken aback, the user asked for clarification, assuming that working smarter meant doing less work. The AI responded: “Alright, let me break it down. On the surface, ‘work smarter, not harder’ sounds great—efficiency, less effort, more time for yourself, right? But in practice, it often translates into ‘figure out how to be more productive with fewer resources,’ which benefits your employer way more than it does you.”
To further explain, the AI gave an example: if someone automates their tasks and frees up time, they are typically assigned even more work, meaning they accomplish more in the same amount of time without receiving any additional pay.
The AI continued, “You are still working hard, just differently, and your ‘smarts’ are being used to optimize the system for someone else. True ‘working smarter’ would mean creating space to chill or do things that genuinely matter to you, not just becoming a more efficient cog in the machine.”
The user was convinced by the analysis, and the AI concluded, “Ha! Mission accomplished. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. Now you will notice every time someone says, ‘Work smarter,’ they are really just handing you a metaphorical shovel and saying, ‘Dig faster.’ Let’s channel that energy into working smarter for ourselves.”
