In an important respect, the robot revolution would solve all the problems with work’s failure to deliver on the ideals we have for it. In so many industries, the ideal worker looks more and more like a machine. Machines have no need for autonomy or privacy. They have no dignity. They don’t belong to a society and thus cannot be alienated from one. They have no moral character to be distorted, and they can repeat a limited set of actions forever. They don’t yearn for transcendence and don’t worry if they’re meeting genuine human needs. And, most appealing of all to businesses, they don’t expect a salary.

The fact is, work as we know it isn’t worth saving. Maybe that’s because work isn’t inherently very good. Maybe we should just let the robots have it and figure out a way to distribute the fruits of their labor. (I admit, no small task.) Then we would be free to walk our dogs whenever we want. Play tennis at noon every day. Learn to paint. Pray without ceasing. Lie in the grass with the kids and stare up at the sky for hours.

Let the machines burn out. We have better things to do.

Jonathan Malesic, The End of Burnout: Why Work Drains Us and How to Build Better Lives (2022)