We can now build things with AI that used to require years of training — Podcast host Oliver calls these his new "superpowers." But he's also noticed something: he increasingly discusses certain topics with the machine instead of with people. Laura Bierling helps make sense of that. As a business coach and mediator, she has spent years guiding people and organizations through change, and she sees up close how much our brains love convenience — and what we lose when we resolve every moment of uncertainty instantly instead of sitting with it.

The conversation explores the one-sided relationship we have with AI, which carries no responsibility, shame, or care, and why some people even fall in love with avatars. Laura explains why she deliberately avoids using pronouns for AI, which job profiles are set to change fundamentally because of the technology, and why rising loneliness statistics give her pause.

In the end, the question becomes what we should actually invest in, if the machine is already faster, more efficient, and more knowledgeable. Laura's answer has less to do with knowledge than with the ability to sense yourself, build resilience — and sit with silence.

In this conversation we discuss:

- why our brains love convenience above all else

- what happens to people who fall in love with avatars

- why Laura deliberately avoids using pronouns for AI

- who is responsible when organizations deploy AI

- which job profiles will change fundamentally because of AI

- why social relationships are the strongest resilience factor we know

- why the courage to sit with silence is a real skill right now

Timestamps:

00:00 — Intro

01:14 — AI "superpowers" in everyday work

03:58 — The flip side: the question of trust

06:04 — When the machine becomes the default instead of people

09:03 — Homo Ludens: our drive to play and AI

13:41 — When people fall in love with avatars

16:43 — Did AI change Laura's identity?

23:53 — Prediction error: why criticism feels like an attack

30:08 — Loneliness statistics and real connection

33:16 — Job profiles changing because of AI

38:11 — Critical thinking as the superpower of the future

44:19 — The most important investment: sensing yourself

46:21 — Resilience as a meta-skill

51:22 — Social relationships as the strongest protective factor

59:23 — The most important advice: the courage to sit with silence