Married to the Machine: Living with AI

Professor Dave and Steph spend a day at Labour Party Conference, to find out what people are saying about AI.

Interviews with Social Market Foundation, Tony Blair Institute, Oxford Dynamics and the TUC.

Recording, editing and mixing by Stephanie Power

Music composed by Matt Power

This is the last episode in our first season of Married To The Machine, and for it, we have been speaking to Tom Boyd at Thames Valley Police, about a world first. An AI powered chatbot called Bobbi (see what they've done there).

Our dramatic scene is taken from a real text exchange with AI Bobbi.

This series is created and produced by Stephanie Power

Music and scenes by Matt Power

Presented by Professor David Reid and Stephanie Power

In Autumn 2025, a TV production company called Particle 6, caused a bit of a storm by launching Tilly Norwood into the world. Young, attractive, eloquent? Tilly could be the acting world’s hot new thing. Tilly is an AI, and the industry wasn’t happy. 

Prof Dave and `Steph meet Eline van der Velden, the creator of Tilly Norwood, to find out what it was like dealing with that reaction, where the TV and film industry is heading, and what the plans are for Tilly and the 'Tillyverse' now.

Recording and editing by Stephanie Power

Theme music by Matt Power

Tilly Norwood Take The Lead, Particle 6 Productions: https://youtu.be/G7V2Biy3omw?si=56Yqls85TQeHIJJU

When we first started this podcast, I asked Prof Dave how, growing up in 1970s Toxteth and at a school that didn't even offer O levels, he'd got into computing in the first place.

He said it was through computing magazines, but also because of a growing gaming industry in Liverpool.

We found one of those games makers, Eugene Evans. And he agreed to talk to us.

You know the history of Liverpool and football, Liverpool and music. But this story about a group of young men and boys making games and money (for a while at least) in the 80s, is not so often told.

Special thanks to the National Video Game Museum in Sheffield, for supporting this episode.

Recording and editing by Stephanie Power

Music and mixing by Matt Power

Further reading: Replay by Tristan Donovan

Further viewing: Commercial Breaks: The Battle For Santa's Software (BBC 1984)

An audio cue sheet is available on request.

Professor Dave and Stephanie spend a couple of days at the CIPD (Chartered Institute Of Personnel and Development) Future of Work Festival. We talk to festival goers, Giovanni Luperti, the founder of Humaans, and David D'Souza, Director of Profession at CIPD, and we get our headshots done!

Recording and mixing by Stephanie Power

Music by Matt Power

Who remembers the BBC's Computer Literacy Project from the 1980s?

It was created to help prepare people in the UK for the massive and widespread adoption of computers.

And here we are, looking at the massive and widespread adoption of AI.

Professor Dave has had a brilliant idea, and we are asking the BBC's new Director General, to consider it. Reith 2.0 - a large language model, made by a trusted institution, to equip the UK population with the right AI skills for the future.

Further reading: Susbstack report. and any coverage

https://clp.bbcrewind.co.uk/history

Presenters: Professor David Reid and Stephanie Power

Recording, editing and mixing by Stephanie Power

Music and additional material: Matt Power

Married To The Machine: Living With AI is a news podcast, currently in proof of concept stage. It is a non-commercial entity.

BBC Microcomputer Commercial: The Crowded Room from 1984, Directed by Terry Lovelock

BBC Archive. Ceefax: A Communications Revolution 1975 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICoj8mxG0ww&t=1s

Thanks to Mumsnet for permission to use part of the Rachel Reeves interview. https://www.mumsnet.com/i/rachel-reeves-mumsnet-asks

In a departure from our usual style, we have devoted this episode to an interview with Sam Stockwell, Senior Researcher at the Turing Institute.

He talks about the work of the Institute and a report they have recently written about how AI is used to spread misinformation after crisis events, like the Southport attacks.

Futher reading: https://www.turing.ac.uk/news/new-report-calls-urgent-action-tackle-ai-information-threats-following-crisis-events

Presenters: Professor David Reid and Stephanie Power

Recording, editing and mixing: Stephanie Power

Music: Matt Power

Married To The Machine: Living With AI is a news podcast, currently in proof of concept stage. It is a non-commercial entity.

Anthropic has signed a deal, worth millions, with the US Department of Defense. But now Anthropic wants to impose red lines on the use of its AI. The response from President Trump? They're just a bunch of leftwing nutjobs.

In episode nine, we imagine a 'liberal elite' AI trying to negotiate with an angry Government department that's just renamed itself the Department Of War.

Are we in an AI existential crisis?

Sketch written by Matt Power

#AI #AIsafety

Is it possible to measure how much energy, water and emissions are used to power your AI searches? Can you trust an academic report from Google? And why is the US Department of Defense getting into a row with Dario Amodei's Anthropic

Further reading:

https://arxiv.org/html/2508.15734v1

Some of our sketch voices and the AI Guy are created using Google AI Studio.

Presenters: Professor David Reid and Stephanie Power

Recording, editing and mixing: Stephanie Power

Music and additional material: Matt Power

Married To The Machine: Living With AI is a news podcast, currently in proof-of-concept stage. It is a non-commercial entity.

Something kicked off in late January. Moltbook - a social space for AI agents. Somewhere humans could, apparently, only observe. Is it really sci-fi adjacent? Prof Dave explains what appears to be going on.

And we talk to the Leader of Barnsley Council, as it is crowned the UK's first Tech Town.

Further reading:

https://hai.stanford.edu/policy/simulating-human-behavior-with-ai-agents

https://theconversation.com/uk

bbc.com/news/articles/c8j3dvjld94o

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/liz-kendalls-speech-at-bloomberg

Credit: Unison Ants and Bear ad: https://www.unison.org.uk/news/article/2004/10/unison-kicks-off-one-in-a-million-recruitment-drive/

Some of our sketch voices and the AI Guy are created using Google AI Studio.

Presenters: Professor David Reid and Stephanie Power

Recording, editing and mixing: Stephanie Power

Music and additional material: Matt Power

Married To The Machine: Living With AI, is a news podcast, currently in proof-of-concept stage. it is a non-commercial entity.