OpenAI co-founder says workers dislike AI-mediated coworker requests
Workers prefer direct human requests over AI-mediated ones, even when the task content is identical, Brockman says.
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- OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman says employees often connect ChatGPT to Slack but resist when an AI agent asks for help on behalf of a coworker.
- Workers prefer direct human requests over AI-mediated ones, even when the task content is identical, Brockman notes.
- The observation highlights concerns about AI inserting itself into human relationships rather than preserving direct human interaction.
Greg Brockman, OpenAI President and Co-Founder, described a workplace dynamic where employees connect their ChatGPT instances to Slack but object when an AI agent, acting on behalf of a coworker, sends a request for assistance. Brockman emphasized that workers are comfortable with the same task being performed by a human but resist when it is mediated by AI, even if the content of the request is unchanged.
Brockman framed this as evidence that people value human relationships and prefer AI to preserve or enhance direct human interaction rather than inserting itself as a layer between coworkers.
The observation was shared as a quotation on Simon Willison’s weblog on August 1, 2026, attributed to Brockman’s public statement.
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