The Curiosity Shop with Brené Brown and Adam GrantAI, Commencement Speeches, and Why Human Thinking Still Matters | The Curiosity Shop
CHAPTERS
Welcome & the episode’s throughline: commencements, booing, and AI’s impact on thinking
Adam and Brené set the agenda: what makes a great commencement speech, why some speeches got booed, and how AI is changing the way we write, collaborate, and think. They preview a core tension—technology advice versus human, values-driven guidance.
George Saunders’ kindness passage: regret as a fresh way to teach core values
Brené reads the iconic excerpt from George Saunders’ 2013 Syracuse speech about regretting “failures of kindness.” They unpack why the story lands so powerfully: it’s specific, emotional, and delivers a timeless lesson without cliché.
The 5 most common commencement themes—and why sameness isn’t the real problem
Adam cites a content analysis of commencement speech themes (help others, do the right thing, expand horizons, be true to yourself, never give up). They argue the issue isn’t repetition—it’s whether speakers deliver values with originality, story, and resonance.
Speeches they love: McRaven, Conan, Ellen, Carell, and Wambach’s “Wolfpack” leadership
They swap favorites and highlight what makes them work: humor, humility, and practical moral guidance. Brené spotlights Abby Wambach’s Barnard speech (and Wolfpack) as a blueprint for teamwork and leadership.
The commencement booing controversy: “boo-tiquette,” empathy for students, and why AI speeches missed
They debate whether booing is ever acceptable, then move to what the boos may really represent: students’ anger and fear about the world they’re inheriting. Brené argues many AI-centric commencement addresses lacked moral imagination and failed to meet graduates emotionally.
Moral imagination & the ‘zoom out/zoom in’ formula for tech leaders’ speeches
Adam asks how to coach an AI leader to give a better commencement. Brené proposes starting with emotionally difficult founder stories, then extracting universal human lessons—anchoring big-picture change (“zoom out”) in concrete narrative (“zoom in”).
Communication craft and storytelling: Chekhov’s gun, emotional resonance, and Adam’s request for a Brené book
They connect commencement quality to broader communication skills—clarity, resonance, and not introducing irrelevant details (“Chekhov’s gun”). Adam presses Brené to write a book on storytelling and symphonic thinking (story, metaphor, analogy) as an AI-era survival skill.
‘Work slop’: why AI-generated output can dump cognitive labor onto the receiver
After the ad break, Brené introduces a real workplace frustration: receiving “AI work slop.” They define it (via BetterUp/Stanford) as work that looks polished but doesn’t meaningfully advance the task—shifting effort and emotional regulation costs to the recipient.
Why good AI writing can fool us: being ‘smitten with what’s written’ vs. what it says
Brené argues many people—especially weaker writers—get seduced by AI’s polished prose and mistake form for substance. She cites an Atlantic essay (Eve Fairbanks) warning that AI’s frictionlessness undermines trust and, crucially, replaces the thinking that writing forces us to do.
Feedback on AI-generated work: diagnose first, then prevent via ‘Paint Done’ expectations
They role-play how to address work slop without escalating conflict. Adam recommends curiosity and context (“this doesn’t match your discernment—why?”) and then shifting from reactive feedback to prevention by clarifying expectations upfront and building team norms.
Adam’s AI integrity dilemma: disclosure, trust, and whether AI-written sentences are dishonest
Adam shares a core concern: if AI generates sentences or paragraphs, he wants explicit disclosure and feels it can become an integrity rupture. Brené challenges the boundary by comparing it to tools like Grammarly and reframes the issue as pilot vs. passenger use, not AI itself.
Pilots vs. passengers (BetterUp/Stanford): mindset, agency, and leadership communication as the lever
They discuss research separating AI users into “pilots” (high agency, deliberate, judgment-driven) and “passengers” (low agency, shortcutting or avoiding). The key driver isn’t technical skill—it's mindset and leadership communication tied to purpose and confidence.
What it means to be human in the AI era: ‘enhanced games,’ authentic art, and feeling hollowed out
Adam likens AI-generated content to performance-enhancing drugs—arguing it belongs in a separate category from human-created work. Brené agrees on valuing human-made music, poetry, and writing, and shares her experience of feeling “hollowed out” after heavy AI use—connecting it to AI as an extractive industry (Kate Crawford).
