Does Gen AI kill Deep Work or make it essential?
January 2026 · Tomasz Borys
Over the Christmas holiday period I read Deep Work by Cal Newport.
With some distance from day to day work and time to reflect on 2025 it made me think about how the ideas in the book translate into a world now shaped by generative AI and large language models.
At first glance Deep Work and AI seem to pull in opposite directions. One values sustained focus. The other promises constant acceleration.
Nearly a decade after the book was written AI now drafts documents, summarises discussions, generates code and responds instantly.
If machines can assist thinking so effectively does deep focus still matter?
This question assumes knowledge work where AI tools are available and where judgment matters more than routine execution.
The surface level contradiction
Many knowledge workers experience AI as acceleration.
- Faster drafts
- Quicker feedback
- Less friction starting work
- Reduced effort for routine tasks
At the same time workdays are more fragmented than ever.
Calendars fill automatically. Meetings overlap. Interruptions become the default state.
AI promises leverage but operates inside the same environment that already weakened Deep Work.
This creates a misleading sense of progress. Work appears faster while the ability to think deeply is slowly reduced.
What Deep Work actually protects
Deep Work was never about typing faster or producing more artefacts. It protects sustained reasoning.
The activities that benefit most from Deep Work are not the ones AI replaces easily.
- Framing the right problem For example, deciding whether latency or correctness actually matters before optimising anything
- Evaluating tradeoffs For example, choosing operational simplicity over short term performance gains
- Designing systems that age well For example, preferring reversible decisions when requirements are still unclear
- Detecting subtle flaws For example, noticing when an AI generated solution ignores the first edge case users will hit
LLMs are strong at local optimisation. They are weak at global judgement.
Without Deep Work the human role collapses into editing output rather than shaping direction.
AI increases the cost of shallow work
Shallow work scales poorly in an AI assisted world.
If an LLM can generate a plausible answer in seconds, then shallow thinking becomes interchangeable. What remains valuable is the ability to:
- Ask non obvious questions
- Detect missing assumptions
- Connect ideas across domains
- Hold complex mental models without constant prompts
These capabilities are trained through Deep Work.
AI does not reduce the need for them. It increases their importance.
Interruption is the real bottleneck
Most knowledge workers do not avoid Deep Work because they lack discipline. They avoid it because their environment makes it difficult.
- Back to back meetings
- Expectations of constant availability
- Signals that reward responsiveness
- Workspaces designed for visibility, not thinking
AI fits this environment perfectly. It responds instantly and never asks for uninterrupted time.
Humans do.
Without deliberate protection Deep Work becomes optional and optional work disappears first.
A reframing for 2026
The question is not whether Deep Work survives AI.
The real question is whether organisations will recognise that AI makes Deep Work essential.
When output becomes cheap, judgement becomes the constraint. When drafts are unlimited, clarity becomes scarce.
Deep Work is no longer a personal productivity preference. It is a strategic capability.
Generative AI did not remove the need for Deep Work. It made the absence of Deep Work far more expensive.
A personal reflection
I use AI daily. I am not trying to minimise its value.
What I have learned is that the order matters.
- AI after the problem is framed, not before
- AI to challenge conclusions, not replace them
- AI in defined time blocks, not as a constant presence
Deep Work creates the signal. AI amplifies it.
As we enter 2026 the most effective knowledge workers will not be the ones who use AI the most. They will be the ones who can still think deeply when everything else pushes them toward shallow work.