--- title: We Have a Rocket Ship. We're Using It to Get to Work Faster. description: AI is the most powerful technology in human history. So far, we're mostly using it to clear our inboxes and hit our deadlines. There's a better question worth asking. image: https://signal78.ai/hubfs/ChatGPT%20Image%20May%2030%2c%202026%2c%2010_56_20%20AM.png --- [Skip to content](https://signal78.ai/insights/we-have-a-rocket-ship.-were-using-it-to-get-to-work-faster#main) [![Signal78 home](https://signal78.ai/hs-fs/hubfs/signal78-site/logo-signal78.png?width=95&height=30&name=logo-signal78.png)](https://signal78.ai/) [Home](https://signal78.ai/) [Platform](https://signal78.ai/platform) [Services](https://signal78.ai/services) [About](https://signal78.ai/about) [Insights](https://signal78.ai/insights) [Book a demo](https://signal78.ai/insights/we-have-a-rocket-ship.-were-using-it-to-get-to-work-faster#demo) [← Insights](https://signal78.ai/insights) AI in the WorkplaceMay 30, 20264 min read # We Have a Rocket Ship. We're Using It to Get to Work Faster. ![Matt Cyr](https://signal78.ai/hubfs/signal78-site/headshot-matt-cyr.jpg)**Matt Cyr** · Founder & President, Loop ![](https://signal78.ai/hubfs/ChatGPT%20Image%20May%2030%2c%202026%2c%2010_56_20%20AM.png) In this article Share ## AI is the most powerful technology in human history, and our biggest goal for it is a 40-hour work week. --- Last week at the Build a Better Agency Summit, I took part in a roundtable discussion with a group of agency owners, discussing AI adoption at their companies. At one point, the moderator asked us to look into the near future and share one way we expected to benefit from AI. People talked about doing work more efficiently, better managing projects, having better data at their fingertips, etc. All very reasonable things, but what stood out to me was that they were looking at AI only as a productivity tool that will allow them and their teams to do all the work they’re doing today, just faster and more efficiently – not a revolutionary technology that can fundamentally change how they work and what they do. This is not a knock on the people at the roundtable. In fact, they represent the leading edge of where agencies are in AI adoption today; they’re using it in meaningful, connected ways and having a positive impact on their businesses. But their responses underscored something I hear in just about every conversation about AI: almost no one is thinking about AI as a way to *do less work.* One of the agency owners came closest to this when she said she’d love to use AI to get down to just a 40-hour work week. ### The Downside of Unlimited Power Here’s the irony of AI adoption in 2026: The people using it the most are burning out the fastest. - **1 in 7 workers experienced mental fatigue from juggling AI tools at work**, according to a Boston Consulting Group / Harvard Business Review (HBR) study from March of this year. - According to another study by UC Berkeley Haas and HBR from February, **employees voluntarily took on more work because AI made it feel possible** – no one asked them to do this. The lesson? AI adoption isn't neutral. Done wrong, it actively makes people worse off. Part of this is the natural outcome of adopting any new technology. But part of it reflects a choice — one most people are making without realizing it. AI created new capacity, and the instinct is to fill it. That instinct is costing people. The machine isn't making them more human. It's making them faster machines. ### Robot Monks & Papal Encyclicals While business leaders are optimizing workflows, the Pope just wrote a [240-page encyclical](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/25/world/europe/pope-leo-encyclical.html?unlocked_article_code=1.lFA.ZO8g.ywQ-ffnOl1j9&smid=nytcore-ios-share) about AI’s role in society. Anthropic and OpenAI are [sitting down with Hindu and Sikh leaders](https://apnews.com/article/ai-artificial-intelligence-ethics-religion-roundtable-053a44133c64703f83fd50c9ee6124ea) to seek moral guidance as they develop their technologies. A Buddhist temple in Seoul [ordained a robot monk](https://www.the-express.com/tech/tech-news/206676/south-korea-first-robot-monk) and asked AI to write its rules. These are more than quirky stories. They're signs that the conversation about AI has escaped the tech sector and entered some of the most fundamental conversations humans have: what is the role of technology in society, what is a good life, and what is work actually *for?* Pope Leo believes AI will damage human purpose and dignity if we just use it to replace workers. The Jogye Order in South Korea is hoping the robot monk will introduce more young people to Buddhist teachings. Anthropic and OpenAI led the inaugural “Faith-AI Covenant” roundtable in New York to discuss how best to infuse morality and ethics into the fast-developing technology. We didn’t have conversations like this about bitcoin. ### More Human, or More Machine? Discussing the Pope’s encyclical this week on CNBC, Harvard theologian [Arthur Brooks summed up the tension well](https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/05/26/harvards-arthur-brooks-on-pope-leos-ai-warning-ai-will-ruin-us-if-it-doesnt-make-us-more-human.html): > "When you let \[AI\] do the analytical stuff, freeing you up to go love people in person…then it can make you more human," he said. "But if you’re using it for the girlfriend experience, or for a buddy, or, God forbid, your therapist, then you’re outsourcing human relationships to AI, and you will become the machine." Brooks was talking about personal relationships, but the same logic applies to our work. AI can free us to do the things that only humans can do — the creative leaps, the strategic bets, the conversations that build real trust and relationships. Or we can use it to clear our plates so we can fill them right back up again. Most of us are choosing the latter. Without really choosing at all. We’ve been given the parts to build a rocket shop, but are using it to make a Honda Accord. The question I keep asking myself is, Where would I go if I had a rocket ship? ![Matt Cyr](https://signal78.ai/hubfs/signal78-site/headshot-matt-cyr.jpg) Founder & President ### Matt Cyr Nearly 30 years leading marketing teams, from Boston’s hospitals and universities to eight years running strategy and new business at a 100-person agency. Founded Loop in 2024. ## More insights. [See all insights→](https://signal78.ai/insights) ### [![](https://signal78.ai/hubfs/Gemini_Generated_Image_tlr2qftlr2qftlr2.jpeg) AI StrategyOctober 6, 2026 It’s Q4 — How’s Your AI Plan Coming? Read the post→](https://signal78.ai/insights/its-q4-hows-your-ai-plan-coming) ### [![](https://signal78.ai/hubfs/2026-09-28_asset_linkedin-article-header-platform-update-fall-2026.png) Signal78September 28, 2026 Signal78 Is Live. Here's What It's Proven — and What's Next. Read the post→](https://signal78.ai/insights/notes-from-the-build-where-signal78-stands-this-fall) ### [![](https://signal78.ai/hubfs/37-78.png) AI for AgenciesAugust 11, 2026 AI Will Keep Making Move 37. We Named the Company After Move 78. Read the post→](https://signal78.ai/insights/ai-will-keep-finding-move-37.-we-named-the-company-after-move-78) Every week ## Stay in the Loop. Get next week’s issue in your inbox: what changed in AI, and what it means for your agency. ![Signal78](https://signal78.ai/hubfs/signal78-site/logo-signal78.png) The agentic operating platform for agencies. It runs the routine and signals your people when their judgment matters. [Home](https://signal78.ai/) [Platform](https://signal78.ai/platform) [Services](https://signal78.ai/services) [About](https://signal78.ai/about) [Insights](https://signal78.ai/insights) © 2026 Signal78 [Privacy policy](https://signal78.ai/privacy) Cookie settings × ## Book a 30-minute demo Pick a time that works. 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