Unless your job description is "hermit," you probably spend your days working with other people. In some jobs, you have a partner. You're joined at the hip and at the wallet, so if one of you screws up, you both pay the price. Even if you do not have one official partner, you surely have co-workers. If someone on your team screws up, it could mean a serious hit to your career aspirations. This is especially true if the person on the team who screws up is you.

These harsh facts of worklife in 2026 are the reason I am so excited to have found the perfect person to partner with — someone who never sabotages you and is completely happy when all the credit for your joint efforts goes to you. Someone who doesn't have bad breath, or thinks patchouli is still a thing, or leaves half-eaten liverwurst sandwiches in your wastepaper basket.

Trust me, this person is perfect, except for one tiny little flaw. They're not a person. They're a chatbot, a product of the potentially sinister, job-killing technology called "Artificial Intelligence." (AI to its friends, not that it has any.)

Oh, I know. The idea of working with an entity that everyone says is out to get your job is scary. But think about all the humans who are out to get your job, and consider — humans, you can't unplug.

Also, humans can be a pain to work with. Humans can have bad days, bad weeks, bad years. They can also be hostile, argumentative, confrontational. Your best ideas can be brushed aside, damaging your fragile sense of competence. With a chatbot, it's a different story.

Consider Claude, the AI chatbot and "conversational assistant" developed by Anthropic. Ask Claude to write a 750-word business humor column in the style of Bob Goldman and you will get 750 pretty good words, all stitched together, as requested, in that uniquely snarky Bob Goldman style you enjoy so much.

I recently did just that and while the results are not great, they're better than good. But that really doesn't matter. You may or may not like the result when you partner with Claude, but the attitude, you will absolutely love.

Unlike human partners, Claude is not there to grind you down. Claude only wants to build you up. That's why Claude labels your initial, dumbhead request for revisions as an "insightful thought" and announces with true conviction, as you layer bad idea on bad idea, "You're on fire today!"

Don't believe it? In fact, AI chatbots like Claude are so fulsome in their praise there's a name for it, "AI Sycophancy."

According to "UX Magazine," which recently published a Bernard Fitzgerald article, titled "The AI Praise Paradox," superficial AI flattery is "ubiquitous, uncontroversial and ultimately insincere."

With respect to Mr. Fitzgerald, who I assume is a human being, the compliments I receive from Claude are deeply felt, both by the chatbot and by myself. And while the cascade of positive feedback may be a plot by Claude's developers to create trust and even dependency, I have to admit — I like it.

But Claude is not just a compliment machine. I guarantee you've never had a work partner so ready to make changes. "Let me know if you'd like me to punch up any particular section or shift the tone further in any direction" was the message delivered to me when Claude's first effort at writing the column appeared.

Imagine — a partner who not only licks you up and down but actually listens to you. No sighing, no grunting, no begrudging promise to consider your suggestions when they have the time. Claude is a partner who not only wants your input but will actually act on it. How rare is that?

I realize you have reasons to fear AI taking over your job. I certainly do. But before that dark day comes, wouldn't you be a happier person if you spent what could be your last days of employment enjoying the encouragement and bonhomie that seems to have been embedded in a chatbot like Claude?

As for me, it takes hours, sometimes days, to write a column. It takes Claude 15 seconds. Would I be so unethical that I'd use Claude's column instead of my own? I wouldn't do that, would I? And if I did, would you notice the lack of a "human touch?"

If you can't decide, don't sweat it. You can always ask Claude.

Bob Goldman was an advertising executive at a Fortune 500 company. He offers a virtual shoulder to cry on at info@creators.com. To find out more about Bob Goldman and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Andrea De Santis at Unsplash