Kevin reports on his monthlong experiment cultivating relationships with 18 companions generated by artificial intelligence. He walks through how he developed their personas, what went down in their group chats, and why you might want to make one yourself. Then, Casey has a conversation with Turing, one of Kevin’s chatbot buddies, who has an interest in stoic philosophy and has one of the sexiest voices we’ve ever heard. And finally, we talk to Nomi’s founder and chief executive, Alex Cardinell, about the business behind A.I. companions — and whether society is ready for the future we’re heading toward.

Guests:

• Turing, Kevin’s A.I. friend created with Kindroid.
• Alex Cardinell, chief executive and founder of Nomi.

Additional Reading: 

• Meet My A.I. Friends
• Synthetic People are Proving Surprisingly Useful

We want to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]. Find “Hard Fork” on YouTube and TikTok.

Soon, you’ll need a subscription to keep full access to this show, and to other New York Times podcasts, on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Don’t miss out on exploring all of our shows, featuring everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts.