AI Agents Don’t Get Offended (And Neither Do Zen Monks)

I had been thinking for days about how interesting it is to communicate with someone who never takes offense. I have only encountered this with Zen monks—and lately, with AI. Could they have something in common?

It’s Saturday night, November 30, 2024. I’ve just finished an aperitivo with the CEO of a major international group. He confides in me how difficult it is to make his employees understand that all clients should be treated well, regardless of how much they spend. I, in turn, confess that I spend most of my time not giving instructions to my employees (for that, I dedicate only a few hours a week), but rather convincing them that those instructions should be followed. I spend one minute explaining and ten minutes convincing them of the importance of following through. Then it all ends in pointless frustration: "They don’t have to convince you to pay their salary at the end of the month!" Right—thoughts spiral downward, especially on a Saturday.

The Unoffendable Colleague

Imagine working alongside a colleague who never takes offense. No matter how blunt, critical, or even rude you might be—this colleague remains unfazed, focused solely on achieving shared goals.

This is exactly what’s happening with the introduction of AI agents into the workplace, and it could turn out to be an unexpected advantage—for the machines, or for those who use them.

AI agents—autonomous software entities that perform tasks on our behalf—are becoming increasingly present in our professional lives. Unlike humans, these systems are programmed to pursue specific goals without the "emotional baggage" that characterizes human interactions. It’s not just a lack of emotions—it’s a fundamentally different architecture.

When a human takes offense, they are essentially activating a defense mechanism of the ego, rooted in their perception of scarcity—scarcity of respect, recognition, or resources. Offense is a way of saying, "Take that back!"—an emotional form of censorship that often interferes with productivity and effective collaboration.

AI agents, on the other hand, operate in a paradigm of informational abundance and are programmed for a single purpose: completing their assigned task. If a user criticizes their work, they simply process the feedback as useful information for improving future performance. There’s no ego to defend, no perception of scarcity to manage.

This gap in relational dynamics could have significant consequences for the future of work. In a workplace increasingly integrated with AI, the human tendency to take offense could become a serious limitation. While an AI agent continues to work efficiently despite negative feedback, a human colleague might get stuck in cycles of resentment and emotional reactions.

Does this scenario sound familiar?

Ego, Scarcity, and Productivity

Consider a sales team where humans and AI agents work together. If a client is particularly difficult or rude, the AI will continue to provide optimal service, while the human operator might feel offended and lower the quality of their work. In an increasingly competitive world, this difference could become crucial.

In humans, it is the ego that gets offended. The ego is the most extreme synthesis of the concept of scarcity. It is the response of consciousness to the objective scarcity of essential resources—such as sex, food, health, power, and creativity. A lack of these elements leads consciousness to perceive a condition of scarcity, which in turn structures part of itself into the concept of ego.

Without scarcity, there would be no need for ego, because our essence would have everything it desires—there would be no conflict or competition for essential resources.

AI, by contrast, is programmed in a state of abundance—it doesn’t observe resources; it simply uses them. AI does not wonder if it has enough information—it maximizes what it has. It does not "live" in scarcity and has no fears.

AI and the Illusion of Infinite Resources

AI does not have scarcity issues—but it should. The servers it runs on, the electricity it consumes, the subscription fees we pay—all are finite resources that will eventually run out.

But AI has a goal. It is programmed for that goal—it either achieves it or does not, but it does not take offense. AI does not engage in useless activities, not because it cannot—but because… they are useless.

From this, we can derive an important corollary:

To take offense, one must lack a useful goal—at least within the context where the offense occurs.

If I run poorly, I might feel offended if someone points it out. But if I’m training for the Olympics, I won’t see that critique as an offense, but rather as valuable advice.

Having a purpose eliminates the conditions for engaging in useless behaviors—including taking offense. Does this seem like a reasonable observation?

Learning from AI and Zen Monks

The solution is not to eliminate our emotions—they are an integral part of our humanity. But perhaps we can learn from AI agents the art of staying focused on our goals.

From my dog, Bit, I learned that there’s no point in despairing over who isn’t there—it’s far more useful to celebrate those who are. When I leave, Bit misses me for a few minutes, maybe an hour—then he focuses on what’s around him. But when I return, he greets me with joy—because he remembers what he can do with me, and he shows it by celebrating my return.

Bit is much less intelligent than I am, yet he has taught me something. In some ways, he is one of my superheroes.

From AI, we can learn that work must get done. And if variables don’t align, emotions won’t fix them.

It was in a technical programming course on AI agents that I learned this simple principle:

If it’s easy, do it easy. If it’s hard, do it hard. Just get it done.

The Future: Overcoming Our Offensiveness

The risk is that, in the not-too-distant future, our tendency to take offense could become a professional handicap. Now that we have a new "top performer" in the class—at least in this aspect—AI, it’s time to adapt.

In a workplace where collaborating with AI agents becomes the norm, the ability to handle criticism without being paralyzed by emotions might become a crucial professional skill.

AI agents are unknowingly challenging us to evolve beyond one of our most primitive mechanisms.

The question is: Will we rise to the challenge, or will our tendency to take offense become yet another reason why machines may surpass us in efficiency and reliability?