External signal·Valence·May 25, 2026·Ethan Mollick·8 min read
From Chatbot to Coworker
Summary
Mollick argues AI is crossing from chatbot to autonomous "coworker" — systems that complete hours of independent knowledge work (writing code, assessing risk, reshaping strategy) rather than answering one prompt at a time. He makes the provocative case that HR, not IT, is best placed to lead the transition, and that leaders must personally use frontier models to calibrate. He highlights new research showing AI agents amplify existing performance variance: the people best at directing agents compound their advantage.
Predictions for the future of work
Predicts the unit of AI value shifts from the prompt to the orchestrated agent, changing roles from doing the work to directing agents — and that this widens skill dispersion within roles, rewarding the best orchestrators rather than simply cutting headcount.
Originally published by Valence · May 25, 2026
Read the original at Valence