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AG Adam Grant Adam Grant Organizational psychologist at Wharton, #1 NYT bestselling author of THINK AGAIN, host of the Re:Thinking podcast.

“I think an AI companion is actually an oxymoron because relationships are a two-way street. It's not just about what you receive, it's also about what you give. And you have nothing to give to an AI. It doesn't need your emotional support. It doesn't feel joy when you tell a joke.”

Squawk Pod · October 2026

“I think an AI companion is actually an oxymoron because relationships are a two-way street. It's not just about what you receive, it's also about what you give. And you have nothing to give to an AI. It doesn't need your emotional support. It doesn't feel joy when you tell a joke.” — Adam Grant, Squawk Pod

Organizational psychologist Adam Grant, asked by Andrew Ross Sorkin about AI and human connection, says he is worried by people substituting chatbots for real relationships. He calls the result simulated interaction, frictionless and sycophantic, in place of the messy but meaningful real thing.

Squawk Pod · 2026-10-13 Listen to the episode → More from Adam Grant →

Transcript

Squawk Pod Around 39:54 into the episode
Speaker 4

I should have called her right away. Definitely.

Andrew Ross Sorkin

When you think, though, about which we sort of started this segment by talking about AI and the idea that people may not be communicating as much in the future, how do you think about that?

Speaker 4

I'm worried about it. There's a growing number of people who are substituting real human interaction for chatbots. And I think an AI companion is actually an oxymoron because relationships are a two-way street. It's not just about what you receive, it's also about what you give. And you have nothing to give to an AI. It doesn't need your emotional support. It doesn't feel joy when you tell a joke. It doesn't actually need any help. And so I think we have simulated interaction, which is frictionless and sycophantic, substituting for the real thing, which is messy but meaningful.

Andrew Ross Sorkin

Here's the thing I was thinking about in that work context because there's so many business folks who are watching us. You like somebody who's not great at their job. And that's complicated because you may think they're a great person, but maybe not as talented or working as hard as you want them…

Speaker 4

Well, just because you like someone does not mean you're going to like working with them. And at some point, we all discover that there are people that we enjoy interacting with who are great friends, but they're not necessarily that competent. So what do you do in that situation? First thing you…

Andrew Ross Sorkin

Okay, flip it around. Person's super talented, but you don't love them. Can you find a way to love them?

Speaker names from our own diarization · position estimated from where the line sits in the episode

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