[Max_aaa]

The issue here, is that this removes a lot of tasks that allowed a person to relax a little mentally. So now we are working the same hours, but we need to be switched on for much longer during these hours. Could this result in more burnout and mental fatigue?

[an0malous]

I think it does and this has been a pattern since the beginning of automation and maybe even technology in general. We look down on factory workers tightening the same screw a hundred times or dishwashers cleaning the same dishes every day as if it’s somehow wasteful to not run your mind 100% of the time but maybe we’ve got it all backwards.

[atom_arranger]

This kind of specialization can be bad for factory workers as well. Doing the same motion over and over can lead to repetitive stress injury.

I think it's true for any worker that performing the same activity over and over can lead to issues that wouldn't occur if work was more varied. That isn't necessarily in a companies interest though since for them it's easier to train people on one task, and they're easier to measure or replace.

The predictable and measurable thing for developers is thinking and cranking out features.

[_DeadFred_]

I mean the time allowance to complete each step in factory work is the maximum the human brain can process with the minimum of scrap. Sometime stages/operation might have a spaced out flow like driving but most can actually be really mentally taxing, just with zero fulfillment.