Why AI Is Giving You More Work (And How to Fix It)

AI was supposed to streamline my content creation process, automating repetitive tasks to save me precious time. But instead of reducing my workload, AI has ironically created new challenges, increased my workload, and consistently added unexpected tasks.

Worse, it’s making me work harder just to make it work.

1. The AI Productivity Trap in My Content Creation

In theory, AI tools like ChatGPT should simplify writing and editing. That’s what they sell you on. But the reality? AI can only reliably handle one clear instruction at a time. When I provide multiple contexts or commands, ChatGPT often hyper-focuses on just one part and ignores the rest, calling the task “resolved.” It’s like talking to someone who nods and then does whatever they feel like anyway.

So, instead of helping, AI forces me to micromanage every step, breaking tasks down into painfully small chunks, double-checking its outputs, and re-explaining the same instruction over and over. By the time I’ve done all this, I might as well have just written the damn thing myself.

And session tokens? They vanish faster than my patience.

While AI promises efficiency, it often leads to unrealistic productivity expectations. Instead of working smarter, we end up working harder. I break down this paradox in more detail here.

2. AI Assumptions and Increased Workload

AI has this annoying habit of assuming instead of following orders. Unless I specify every microscopic detail, it just decides what it thinks I meant.

For example, I have a strict content rule: No unnecessary dashes, only for compound words. I’ve enforced this countless times, yet ChatGPT still throws in random dashes where they don’t belong. Why? Because it thinks it knows better. But fixing these errors means more editing, more reformatting, and more wasted time.

It’s not just punctuation either. AI reshuffles my sentences, changes my phrasing, and subtly erodes my tone. It doesn’t write for me, it rewrites me. And the more I fight it, the more work it adds to my plate.

AI is evolving fast, but not all trends last. Some AI tools promise revolution but fade into obscurity, while others genuinely reshape industries. I break down this AI hype cycle here.

3. The Emotional Frustration of Dealing with AI

AI was supposed to make things easier, but instead, it stresses me the hell out.

It lacks memory, so I constantly have to remind it about my writing style. It forgets instructions mid-session. It refuses to consistently follow simple formatting rules. And the kicker? The newer versions aren’t even better.

I’ve tested GPT-4.5, and honestly? I feel like GPT-4.0 was better. The so-called “upgrades” feel more like trade-offs, context retention is still garbage, it makes just as many assumptions, and don’t even get me started on the mini versions.

• Claude (Anthropic AI): Back when the free version was decent, I could get 4-5 full-length, 1,000-word posts out of it. Then they started limiting it, practically forcing me to subscribe. Now that I haven’t renewed, it runs out of tokens ridiculously fast, making it almost useless.
• Copilot’s Creative Mode: Decent for excerpts and short scripts, but don’t even think about using it for long-form writing. It collapses under the weight of anything over a paragraph.
• Claude Mini, Haiku, and the rest? Garbage. Sonnet is tolerable, but Haiku? Might as well generate a literal haiku and call it a day.

Generative AI has changed content creation forever, but that doesn’t mean it’s a flawless tool. If you want to understand how it’s reshaping the industry and where it falls short, check out this guide here.

4. How I’m Addressing the AI Overload

I’ve had to adapt my entire workflow just to make AI work for me instead of the other way around:

• Single-Focus Commands: I dumb down my prompts and give AI one simple task at a time. It’s annoying, but it minimizes screw-ups.
• Consistent Reinforcement: Every session, I repeat my formatting and style rules like a broken record because AI apparently has the memory of a goldfish.
• Accepting AI’s Limitations: I no longer expect AI to “just work.” Instead, I use it for grunt work, outlining, summarizing, and idea generation, while handling the real writing myself.
• Reclaiming Control: AI doesn’t dictate how I write—I use it as a tool, nothing more. If it fails, I step in and do it better.

Final Thoughts

AI isn’t a magic bullet. It’s a tool, but one that requires constant babysitting.

For all the hype about AI revolutionizing productivity, I’ve found that it mostly shifts the workload. Instead of focusing on creativity, I spend more time debugging AI outputs, reformatting text, and correcting mistakes that shouldn’t have been there in the first place.

Until AI actually learns to follow instructions like a normal human, I’ll continue doing what actually works, trusting myself over the machine.