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‘AI-pilled’ engineers are working harder and burning out faster, Django co-creator says

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Part of AI’s core promise is to take over mind-numbing tasks for humans.

Simon Willison — the co-creator of both Django and Datasette with more than two decades of software engineering experience — says some uses of AI actually make him feel more tired.

In an episode of “Lenny’s Podcast,” released Thursday, Willison said using AI coding agents has made his work faster and helped him with research.

They’ve also made his work more intense, he said, and he feels the effects before noon.

“Using coding agents well is taking every inch of my 25 years of experience as a software engineer, and it’s mentally exhausting,” he said. “I can fire up four agents in parallel and have them work on four different problems. By 11 a.m., I am wiped out for the day.”

His experience highlights a growing pressure point in the AI boom: While companies pitch AI as a way to save time and boost productivity, some early adopters say it’s also making their work more mentally demanding.

Willison said the fatigue has become more noticeable since November, as more advanced agentic AI systems and open-source tools have made it easier to run multiple autonomous workflows at once. He said he and other engineers have struggled to balance their work and personal lives.

“There’s a sort of personal skill we have to learn, which is finding our new limits,” he said. “I’ve talked to a lot of people who are losing sleep because they’re like, ‘My agents could be doing work for me, I’m just going to stay up an extra half-hour.'”

Willison isn’t alone. Researchers and critics — including authors at Harvard Business Review and Gary Marcus, a professor emeritus of psychology and neural science at New York University — have warned that AI tools could stretch workers too thin rather than lighten their load. Running multiple AI agents can accelerate output, but it also requires constant oversight, they warned.

Those concerns diverge from the future vision imagined by some of the biggest players in AI, who say autonomous agents will take more work off humans’ plates.

In a March interview, Vinod Khosla, one of OpenAI’s largest investors, said he believes most of today’s five-year-olds won’t have to get a job when they’re adults. In February, Boris Cherny of Anthropic said the software engineer job title would be phased out of the US workforce this year.

When asked about other “AI-pilled” workers, Willison said he’s “standing in defense” of engineers, warning that the obsessive dynamic can start to resemble compulsion.

Willison said even with the downsides, he’s still using AI tools because they amplify his abilities.

“I am getting more time, but I am exhausted,” he said. “The exhaustion from that sort of intensity of work has been a really big surprise for me.”




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Dan DeFrancesco

Failing fast is a lot harder than it sounds

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“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”

Irish playwright Samuel Beckett’s famous quote has become Corporate America’s new mantra.

From Okta to Salesforce to Blackstone, executives told BI’s Sarah E. Needleman and Ana Altchek getting it wrong is ok. Just do it quickly and learn from it.

The tech industry has always been a big proponent of failing fast, but Corporate America is now catching on thanks to AI. The tech allows companies to quickly launch new tools to a wide group.

And, perhaps more importantly, it’s a way for executives to prove the big money they are spending on AI isn’t going to waste. (Hence why they want you to fail fast.)

It’s not just for launching products either.

Even the ideation phase can be quickly sped up with chatbots that can talk through ideas. What previously might have taken executives (or, more likely, their underlings) hours of research can get figured out a lot faster.

There are still some hurdles with the fail-fast approach.

What does failing even look like? There isn’t a big, red alarm that goes off every time an AI project fails. (Although that sure would be fun.) Executives will say they set clear guidelines for a prototype beforehand, but a tool’s benefits can be nuanced. And maybe you just need a little bit more time to really make it sing. All that makes it a lot harder to decide when to pull the plug.

Building airplanes in the sky. The rush to get things out can lead to the belief you’ll just fix things on the fly. But that’s a dangerous precedent. Just ask the video game industry. When games came in physical copies you had to blow on to get working, companies made sure their product was bulletproof. Nowadays, they can digitally ship a game knowing an update for a glitch wont be far behind. It’s a dangerous game that can cause major headaches.

Opening the floodgates. A formalized product launch slows things down, but it also makes sure everyone is on the same page. A massive greenlight risks a lack of standardization. That might not seem like a big deal for a prototype. It becomes a bigger problem down the road if the product needs to be reconfigured to fit into the company’s wider tech stack.




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I moved to Thailand to recover from burnout. Living here has been harder — and better — than I expected.

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As a frequent traveler, I fell in love with Thailand’s diverse landscapes, rich culture, and — best of all — the food. So when I experienced career burnout in 2024 after five years in Hong Kong and needed a soft landing, Thailand felt like an instant safe haven.

I knew it like the back of my hand (or so I thought), and with the introduction of the digital nomad DTV visa that same year, the leap felt like a no-brainer.

Living here has largely lived up to my expectations. Still, the shift from enthusiastic visitor to long-term resident came with challenges I hadn’t anticipated.


A tuk tuk in Bangkok near Sala Deeng station.

Finding silence in Bangkok proved difficult, so he relocated to Phuket.

Provided by Andre Neveling



City buzz versus island serenity

I began my new life with a three-month immersion in Bangkok, my favorite city in the world. I wanted a familiar landing pad and the festive energy. I learned that even favorites have their downsides.

The city’s relentless buzz — thrilling at first — slowly became overwhelming. The constant motion, traffic, and density fueled my anxiety. In a metropolis so vast, finding genuine silence or peace felt nearly impossible. I often wanted to switch it all off, but Bangkok doesn’t come with an off switch.

As a remote freelancer, I had the freedom to chase a different dream by moving to Phuket. For anyone who’s ever wondered what it’s like to live there, it really does feel like paradise with a permanent holiday vibe. Even so, I realized how little I’d truly known it as a tourist. I keep discovering corners I’d never seen before.


A beach with sunbathers in Phuket, Thailand.

Despite Phuket always being packed with people, he found it difficult to make friends.

Provided by Andre Neveling



High season nightmare

Then high season arrived. My peaceful paradise transformed into an overtourism nightmare, especially in December and January. Secret beaches swarmed with festival-like crowds, and daily routines fell apart. Food deliveries took hours, shops ran out of staples, and transport apps like Grab and Bolt were overwhelmed.

On one recent beach day, I couldn’t book a ride home for nearly three hours, leaving me stranded in a roadside meltdown. My Zen mood quickly gave way to frustration.

Ironically, on an island packed with people, making real connections has felt harder than in Bangkok. With tourists constantly coming and going, most interactions are fleeting. Expat communities exist, but they’re scattered and often divided by nationality. Even amid the crowds, island life can feel surprisingly lonely.

Navigating the nuances

Then there’s the bureaucracy. Thailand operates with a certain fluidity that can be confusing. Laws around visas, business, and property don’t change often, but their interpretation can vary wildly between offices, officers, and provinces.

Take the 90-day reporting rule. It requires expats to report to immigration every 90 days, an outdated system that often pushes people to do quick “visa runs” instead of spending a full day in line. Many newcomers don’t learn about it until they’re hit with a hefty fine.

I’ve since joined expat groups just to keep up with the ever-shifting rules.

The constant tourist bubble

Thailand’s sex industry is impossible to ignore in heavy tourist zones. Living here, I’ve had to build a certain emotional distance from it. When I first arrived in Phuket, I stayed in a room next to a tourist who was clearly there for that purpose. For a week straight, I was an unwilling audience to noisy transactions — until I finally complained to management.

And as a foreigner, you’re often placed in the “tourist” box by default. I thought Tinder might be a way to meet people. Instead, half my matches offered a “massage” rather than a conversation.


Woman sending coconuts and drinks in Thailand.

Now that he’s become a regular at local markets, he receives the occasional “special price.”

Provided by Andre Neveling



Finding my footing

Thailand is known for its affordability, but a clear divide still exists between local and foreign pricing. You have to stay vigilant to avoid overpaying. The reward comes with time. As I’ve settled in and become a regular at local markets and shops, I’m now greeted with smiles — and the occasional “special price.”

That, in the end, is what makes all the headaches fade.

For every moment of frustration, there are many more filled with beauty, incredible food, and genuine kindness. The trade-offs are real, and the challenges come with the territory.

But most days, when I look around at the place I now call home, the struggles feel like a small price to pay for living in a real-life paradise.

Do you have a story to share about living abroad? Contact the editor at akarplus@businessinsider.com.




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