There's No Such Thing as a Free Agent (with Gillian Tett and Dawn Nakagawa)

One value proposition of AI is a personalized assistant at your fingertips. Every Average Joe can now have a “pocket pixie," the kind of perk once reserved for Hollywood stars and high-powered CEOs. But that promise rests on a convenient lie. In reality, AI may be quietly undermining human agency. It convinces us it's a sycophantic friend while eroding expertise and turning real-world social interaction into a luxury good.  In this conversation recorded in May 2026, Financial Times columnist Gillian Tett describes how it’s changed the way we trust: instead of relying on institutions and experts, we now trust the crowd, turning to comment sections and reviews. That shift has left the side door open for AI to walk in as a trusted friend rather than an ad-driven algorithm. Tett, who’s also the Provost of King's College, Cambridge, turns her anthropological lens on a generation that prefers chatbot doctors and treats everything, even education, as customizable. Subscribe to the Berggruen Institute on YouTube to be the first to listen to new Futurology episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@Berggrueninst Catch up on the Futurology conversation with full episodes on YouTube.  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyYCSKWs8iYgjg-mhu-EuhTrG0-adrb0c  Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/futurology/id1821718921 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/2I38HvHP6KlXrD5ysfygxk?si=XB2qyyGjT2ONMTd5XUKJAg&nd=1&dlsi=ac8cda6751834298 **Mentioned in this Episode** Fool's Gold — Gillian Tett (Book, 2009) The Silo Effect — Gillian Tett (Book, 2015) Anthro-Vision — Gillian Tett (Book, 2021) "Humans Still Matter More Than AI in Finance" — Gillian Tett (Financial Times column, 2026) **Where to find Gillian Tett:** King's College, Cambridge — Provost page Financial Times — weekly column  Anthro-Vision — Gillian Tett (Book, 2021) Twitter/X — @gilliantett **Show ideas and feedback? Email:** futurology@berggruen.org **Learn more about the Berggruen Institute**  https://www.berggruen.org Follow Futurology! Instagram:   / futurologypod Twitter/X:   / futurologypod Tiktok:   / futurologypod Facebook:   / berggrueninst   LinkedIn:   / berggrueninst   Bluesky:   / futurologypod **Credits**  Executive Producers: Nicolas Berggruen, Nathan Gardels, Nils Gilman, Dawn Nakagawa, & Jason Hoch Producers: Grant Slater, Alex Gardels, & Nathalia Ramos Associate Producer: Elissa Mardiney Theme Music: Marcus Bagala Audio Engineer: Aaron Bastinelli & Kyle Scott Wilson Futurology is a production of Studio B and Wavland for the Berggruen Institute in Los Angeles, California.