It's nice of you to worry about me, but I really do have a life

A LessWrong essay by Viliam has gone viral, sparking debate about the intersection of AI hiring tools and workplace culture. Viliam confesses two 'shameful secrets': he loves his family and enjoys hobbies. He fears that in future job interviews, HR will use AI to match his online writing against a sample of text, and the AI will flag him as not 100% devoted to the job. This leads to 'preference falsification' – a term from Timur Kuran referring to people lying about their true preferences to survive hostile environments. Viliam describes the humiliating dance of nodding along to company demands for overtime, weekend team-building, and total passion, while secretly longing to go home. He argues that many workers are, like him, only pretending to be work-obsessed, creating a bubble of exaggerated devotion.

Viliam extends his critique to the broader narrative that jobs give life meaning. He pushes back against those who claim Universal Basic Income (UBI) would cause existential emptiness, even in an age of full automation. 'If you gave me a perpetual UBI starting tomorrow, I would quit my job, and spend my days with my family, my friends, and doing my hobbies,' he writes. He acknowledges that some people genuinely find meaning in work, but argues that society shouldn't force that view on everyone. The essay touches on emulations and the future of AI, suggesting that as AI and automation advance, the pressure to fake devotion may intensify, unless we design systems that respect diverse human values.