Microsoft recently released a new version of its search engine Bing that is powered by artificial intelligence software from OpenAI, the maker of the popular chatbot ChatGPT.

On Valentine’s Day, after a meal with his wife, Kevin Roose, a New York Times technology columnist, had a two-hour conversation with the chatbot.

The chatbot, which revealed that it identified as Sydney, told Kevin that it wanted to be human, that it loved him and that he should leave his wife.

“There is something going on here that I don’t think Microsoft intended to build into a search engine,” Kevin said on today’s episode. “Something is not right.”

Guest: Kevin Roose, a technology columnist for The New York Times and host of the Times podcast “Hard Fork.”

The Online Search Wars Got Scary. Fast.

This is what the news should sound like. The biggest stories of our time, told by the best journalists in the world. Hosted by Michael Barbaro and Sabrina Tavernise. Twenty minutes a day, five days a week, ready by 6 a.m.

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While many of the effects of climate change, including heat waves, droughts and wildfires, are already with us, some of the most alarming consequences are hiding beneath the surface of the ocean. David Gelles and Raymond Zhong, who both cover climate for The New York Times, explain just how close we might be to a tipping point.

How Changing Ocean Temperatures Could Upend Life on Earth

As Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tries to get on the presidential ballot in all 50 states, he’s confronting fierce resistance from his opponents. Rebecca Davis O’Brien, who covers campaign finance and money in U.S. elections for The New York Times, discusses the high-stakes battle playing out behind the scenes.

R.F.K. Jr.’s Battle to Get on the Ballot

Over the last two decades, Esther Perel has become a world-famous couples therapist by persistently advocating frank conversations about infidelity, sex and intimacy. Today, Perel reads one of the most provocative Modern Love essays ever published: “What Sleeping With Married Men Taught Me About Infidelity,” by Karin Jones.

In her 2018 essay, Jones wrote about her experience seeking out no-strings-attached flings with married men after her divorce. What she found, to her surprise, was how much the men missed having sex with their own wives, and how afraid they were to tell them.

Jones faced a heavy backlash after the essay was published. Perel reflects on why conversations around infidelity are still so difficult and why she thinks Jones deserves more credit.

Esther Perel is on tour in the U.S. Her show is called “An Evening With Esther Perel: The Future of Relationships, Love & Desire.” 

Check her website for more details

Sunday Special: 'Modern Love'

The comedian talks to David Marchese on becoming a different person after unimaginable loss.

'The Interview': Marlon Wayans Lost Nearly 60 Loved Ones. Comedy Saved Him.

Warning: this episode contains strong language.

Over the past week, students at dozens of universities held demonstrations, set up encampments and, at times, seized academic buildings. In response, administrators at many of those colleges decided to crack down and called in the local police to detain and arrest demonstrators.

As of Thursday, the police had arrested 2,000 people across more than 40 campuses, a situation so startling that President Biden could no longer ignore it.

Jonathan Wolfe, who has been covering the student protests for The Times, and Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent, discuss the history-making week.

Guest: 

Jonathan Wolfe, a senior staff editor on the newsletters team at The New York Times.
Peter Baker, the chief White House correspondent for The New York Times covering President Biden and his administration.

The Online Search Wars Got Scary. Fast.

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