Since You Asked with Lori Gottlieb and Gretchen Rubin How Do We Help People Grieve? Plus: When AI Starts Mediating Your Marriage
Feb 17, 2026
Two friends share personal grief stories and practical ways people hold memory and joy alongside loss. They explore how using AI during marital arguments can feel like a third presence and suggest setting boundaries. Listeners chime in about habits they stopped to improve life, from news binging to perfectionism.
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AI Skips Relational Learning
- Gretchen argues AI differs from journaling or a friend because it can supply ready-made phrasing that the user may not metabolize.
- That risks bypassing the trial-and-error learning of understanding your partner's unique responses.
Practice Imperfect Conversations
- Reassure a partner that saying the wrong thing and repairing it builds intimacy more than a 'perfect' AI-crafted response.
- Encourage practice and real-time feedback to learn that partner's specific 'operating instructions.'
Set AI-Free Conversation Rules
- Do negotiate boundaries: ban AI mid-conversation and reserve it for post-discussion reflection or joint use.
- Use AI together as a tool to learn communication skills rather than as an in-the-moment arbiter.
