{
  "id": 14113855,
  "title": "What is work worth when thought is metered?",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/13/what-is-work-worth-when-thought-is-metered",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-13T04:00:45.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "e27",
    "slug": "e27",
    "url": "https://e27.co/what-is-work-worth-when-thought-is-metered-20261010/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The economy of human and artificial intelligence labor is undergoing a transformation, with work being increasingly measured by tokens and energy consumption rather than traditional utilisation. Traditional metrics like hours and effort are falling short in capturing the true value of work in the age of AI. Tokens, the unit of measurement for machine intelligence, are falling in price and can be consumed continuously, unlike human intelligence which has finite energy and tire easily. The shift in work definition now focuses on converting intent into outcomes that can be trusted, rather than just executing tasks. Human intelligence provides framing, context, and accountability, while machine intelligence excels in scale, repetition, and search. To optimize work in this new economy, a balance must be struck between human judgment and machine efficiency, with energy-efficient allocation of resources based on the task at hand.",
  "summary": "Your organisation buys human intelligence by the hour and machine intelligence by the million tokens. Only one of those prices is falling fast, and most management systems, from the timesheet to the pricing model, are still built around the other. I have spent my career applying technology to improve productivity and offset inflationary costs, and […] The post What is work worth when thought is…",
  "key_points": [
    "Work is now measured by tokens and energy consumption.",
    "Tokens for machine intelligence fall in price, unlike human energy.",
    "Human intelligence provides framing, context, and accountability."
  ],
  "editors_take": "Shifting from time-based metrics to token and energy consumption redefines economic value, forcing a transition where human accountability must balance against the scalable, low-cost efficiency of machine intelligence.",
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}