Lucy Clarke, founder of the Berlin-based semantic search engine Substanz, calls AI her “office spouse” without irony. After parting ways with her co-founder, she turned to Anthropic’s Claude for everything from market strategy debates to pep talks during bouts of impostor syndrome. “It’s kind of like a mirror — you get back a version of yourself and your own thinking, but in a way that feels like external validation,” she told Quartz.
Therein lies the upside: An AI “office spouse” won’t use your confessions to spread gossip, or misremember a conversation, and it will never file an HR complaint. All this could mean fewer interpersonal blowups and divided loyalties, and maybe less angst for managers. But it also means less human connection, fewer early-warning signs of burnout, and new “shadow influences” shaping decisions before managers ever hear them.
Ryan Zhang, CEO of the AI-powered productivity platform Notta.ai, sees the upside. “I’ve watched employees voice more confidence in meetings following rehearsals of difficult conversations with AI,” he said. “There are also fewer interpersonal disputes since individuals are resolving irritations on their own rather than venting to colleagues.”
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