In a thought-provoking video posted to her Instagram, health-tech founder and Harvard MBA student Morgan Alexandra Hewett delivered a blunt reality check to anyone expecting artificial intelligence (AI) to usher in an era of leisure.
Her message? Don’t expect AI to shorten your workweek—expect it to intensify your workload.
Hewett shared her take on AI’s real impact on modern labor during a rainy day in Cambridge, citing historical data and economic patterns.
“Every single technology revolution since the Industrial Revolution has actually caused us to work more, not less,” she said. While innovations may improve productivity, she said, they rarely translate to fewer working hours.
“Even though we have computers and we have the internet, don’t you actually work more hours per week than you feel like your parents did?”
A Capitalist Acceleration, Not a Break
Hewett referenced a post by investor Mercedes Bent, who pointed out that the Industrial Revolution, when societies shifted away from agrarian labor, was the only major tech leap that resulted in less work. In contrast, digital technologies, from the internet to mobile devices, have merely reshaped how and where people work, not how long.
Hewett’s argument builds on that: AI isn’t a shortcut to more leisure time—it’s a tool for capital to demand more output in the same amount of time. With AI boosting efficiency, expectations from employers will rise. Instead of being allowed to clock out early, workers will be expected to use that extra time to outperform, innovate, and accelerate business goals.
“Now that your boss knows you’re using AI tools… they’re going to expect you to be more creative, build better relationships, grow revenue three times faster, cut costs five times faster,” she explained.
A Hard Truth From a Proven Innovator
Hewett’s words carry weight. By age 30, she had founded and sold a generative AI startup, and she continues to advocate for transformative digital tools, especially in healthcare. As an entrepreneur and product strategist, her insight comes from direct experience at the intersection of technology, business, and human capital.
Now pursuing her MBA at Harvard Business School, Hewett is part of a generation of leaders grappling with how AI will reshape workforce expectations—and sounding the alarm that the problem isn’t the tech, it’s the system deploying it.
Her final takeaway? AI isn’t going to free you—it’s going to change the game. But the rules? Those are still set by capitalism.
