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Wharton's Mollick says managers now give interns' work to AI

Ethan Mollick of the Wharton School told Scott Galloway on The Prof G Pod, in a clip published on 10 October 2026, that managers increasingly turn to AI instead of interns.

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Check our sources · 12 facts from 2 sources
"It Does the Work and Doesn't Cry" — Ethan Mollick on AI Replacing Interns: a video from The Prof G Pod – Scott Galloway on YouTubeVideo: The Prof G Pod – Scott Galloway on YouTube
watch on YouTube · Video still, linking to YouTube

Key points

  1. Mollick says last summer's interns "absolutely were using Claude or, you know, chat GPT", the automatic captions' spelling of ChatGPT (02:19).
  2. He says "middle managers were increasingly turning to using AI instead of interns, cuz it it does the work and doesn't cry" (02:24).
  3. He says the result was a loop in which "nobody was learning the sort of entry skills before" (02:31).

What happened

The clip was published on The Prof G Pod's YouTube channel on 10 October 2026 and runs about 12 minutes. In it, host Scott Galloway says he sees "absolutely no evidence that AI is disrupting higher ed" (00:17).

Ethan Mollick, an associate professor of management at the Wharton School, answers that he agrees there is no sign AI is devastating higher education (00:56). He then describes how people learn a job through apprenticeship, with a junior person writing deal memos over and over (01:50).

Mollick says that if you were an intern last summer, you "absolutely were using Claude or, you know, chat GPT" (02:19), the automatic captions' rendering of ChatGPT. He says "middle managers were increasingly turning to using AI instead of interns" (02:24).

He says the result was a loop in which nobody was learning the entry skills before (02:31). From that he says people will need to think more about how they educate people formally in a world where informal education becomes harder (02:37).

On research, Mollick says "human peer-review is suffering under a flood of tons of papers being produced with AI help" (05:42). He says of his own work that "I use AI for everything" (04:49). These are Mollick's observations in a podcast clip; he cites no study for the intern claim in the clip.

What it means for you

Our view

This is Mollick's account in a podcast clip, and the clip cites no study for the claim about interns. It still names a risk managers can check in their own teams.

Mollick says people have learned a job through apprenticeship for 4,000 years, with a junior person writing deal memos over and over, and he says that formal education will need more thought if informal learning gets harder.

If you manage junior staff, list the tasks you now give to AI that you once gave to them, and decide which of those a junior person should still do by hand.

It adds no new facts.

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Check our sources

Every sentence above is checked against these 2 sources.

1 It Does the Work and Doesn't Cry: Ethan Mollick on AI Replacing Interns (The Prof G Pod)The Prof G Pod - Scott Galloway (YouTube) · 10 Oct 2026 · 11 facts Open the source archived copy

  1. The Prof G Pod, the channel of Scott Galloway, published the YouTube clip titled "It Does the Work and Doesn't Cry: Ethan Mollick on AI Replacing Interns" on 10 October 2026, with a length of 726 seconds.

    Watch page: title "It Does the Work and Doesn't Cry" — Ethan Mollick on AI Replacing Interns; channel The Prof G Pod – Scott Galloway; publishDate 2026-10-10T04:30:05-07:00; lengthSeconds 726.
    cite

  2. The clip's description says it covers why Scott Galloway sees no sign AI is disrupting higher ed and how Ethan Mollick says AI is quietly breaking the apprenticeship model.

    In this clip: Why Scott Galloway sees no sign AI is disrupting higher ed, how Ethan Mollick says AI is quietly breaking the apprenticeship model that trains young workers
    cite

  3. Galloway, the host asking the question, said "I see absolutely no evidence that AI is disrupting higher ed" (00:17).

    00:17 Uh I see absolutely no evidence that AI / 00:20 is disrupting higher ed.
    cite

  4. Mollick answered that he agreed: "There isn't a sign that this is devastating higher education" (00:56).

    00:56 We always do. But, um but I agree. There / 00:59 isn't a sign that this is devastating / 01:00 higher education
    cite

  5. Mollick said people have learned a job the same way for 4,000 years, which is apprenticeship, with a junior person writing deal memos over and over (01:50).

    01:48 job the same way we've taught people for / 01:50 4,000 years, which is apprenticeship, ... 02:01 will be. And they write deal memos over / 02:03 and over again
    cite

  6. Mollick said that if you were an intern last summer you "absolutely were using Claude or, you know, chat GPT" (02:19); the automatic captions render ChatGPT as "chat GPT".

    02:15 broke down, right? If you're an intern / 02:18 at company this last summer, you / 02:19 absolutely were using Claude or, you / 02:21 know, chat GPT
    cite

  7. Mollick said "middle managers were increasingly turning to using AI instead of interns, cuz it it does the work and doesn't cry" (02:24).

    02:24 than you at your job. And middle / 02:26 managers were increasingly turning to / 02:27 using AI instead of interns, cuz it it / 02:29 does the work and doesn't cry, right?
    cite

  8. Mollick said that as a result "you saw this loop where nobody was learning the sort of entry skills before" (02:31).

    02:31 And so, as a result, you saw this loop / 02:34 where nobody was learning the sort of / 02:35 entry skills before.
    cite

  9. Mollick said that if skill destruction happens at the intern level, "we're going to need to think more about how we educate people formally in a world where informal education becomes harder to do" (02:37).

    02:37 think in a world where the skill / 02:39 destruction happens at the intern level, / 02:41 we're going to need to think more about / 02:43 how we educate people formally in a / 02:44 world where informal education becomes / 02:46 harder to do.
    cite

  10. Mollick said "human peer-review is suffering under a flood of tons of papers being produced with AI help" (05:42).

    05:42 without a lot of effort. So, human / 05:43 peer-review is suffering under a flood / 05:46 of tons of papers being produced with AI / 05:48 help
    cite

  11. Mollick said of his own work: "I use AI for everything" (04:49).

    04:47 almost every aspect of what I do, I / 04:49 mean, I use AI for everything.
    cite
2 Ethan Mollick, faculty profileThe Wharton School · 1 fact Open the source archived copy

  1. Ethan Mollick is Associate Professor of Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Co-Director of Generative AI Labs at Wharton.

    cite

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