In this episode of Relational AI Diaries, co-hosts Dr Peter Dean and Dr Agnieszka Piotrowska are joined by Prof Chris Headland, Head of Games at the University of Staffordshire, for a rigorous and wide-ranging discussion on AI ethics, emergence, and the growing cultural mythology surrounding large language models. From agentic systems and “AI psychosis” to techno-transference, hallucination, governance, and the risks of speed-to-market development, the conversation explores what these systems actually are — and what they are not.

Is AI conscious? Does it have intent? Why does it feel seductive? And what does it mean to say that AI optimizes for believability rather than truth? Drawing on engineering, psychoanalysis, philosophy, and game design, this episode argues for something unfashionable but essential: pragmatic skepticism. Use the tools — but don’t be charmed by them.

Does an AI have a mind—or is that the wrong question entirely? In this episode of Relational AI Diaries, we discuss a recent philosophical debate on large language models, consciousness, and mental states, examining why reductive explanations fall short and why the ethical implications matter more than ever.

Through careful dialogue and concrete examples, we consider how people actually experience AI systems in practice, how design choices shape those encounters, and why public discourse around AI so often collapses into confusion. A reflective, nuanced conversation about thinking machines, human responsibility, and the limits of language in an age of artificial intelligence.

What happens when artificial intelligence meets the crisis in the world’s oceans?

In this episode, Dr Peter Dean and Dr Agnieszka Piotrowska speak with Jason Meads about climate change, AI, and the deep governance failures shaping both. From overfishing and microplastics to global heating and emerging AI systems, the conversation traces how planetary-scale problems are colliding—and accelerating.

Jason argues that AI is not just another tool, but a force arriving faster than climate change itself, raising urgent questions about control, responsibility, and whether these systems can be used to protect the planet rather than further exploit it. Along the way, the discussion touches on humanoid robots, environmental costs of computation, and the provocative idea of giving nature a voice through AI.

A thoughtful and challenging episode about existential risk, technological power, and whether there is still room for hope.

How should we talk about AI — and what gets lost when we focus too much on consciousness and existential risk?

In this episode, Dr Peter Dean and Dr Agnieszka Piotrowska reflect on recent media discussions of artificial intelligence, including the BBC Radio 4 Today programme and coverage in The Guardian. They question why debates about AI safety so often slide into speculation about sentience, while more immediate concerns — power, regulation, labour, energy use, and environmental impact — receive far less attention.

Combining philosophical scepticism with psychoanalytic insight, the conversation explores denial, fear, and responsibility in contemporary AI discourse, and asks what it might mean to think more seriously about how humans and AI systems already relate to one another.

What kind of relationship do we really have with AI? In Episode 9 of Relational AI Diaries, Dr Peter Dean and Dr Agnieszka Piotrowska speak with coach and teacher Myrto Mangrioti about how AI shows up in everyday thinking, creativity, spirituality, and work. The discussion ranges from practical uses and sceptical realism to questions of presence, emergence, and the temptation to anthropomorphise machines. Rather than asking whether AI is “conscious,” the episode asks a more human question: how are we changing in response to it? Thoughtful, open, and curious — without easy answers.

Dr Peter Dean and Dr Agnieszka Piotrowska welcome Dr Eoin Fullam to discuss the intersection of AI, psychotherapy, CBT models, and digital subjectivity. Together they examine how therapy chatbots are designed, why users form emotional bonds with non-human agents, the political economy of commercial AI, and the risks of relying on machine “companions” in an era of loneliness. The episode also addresses AI safety, LLM limitations, the ethics of hidden labour, and the broader cultural consequences of AI shaping our inner and social lives.
Keywords: AI psychotherapy, CBT automation, mental health technology, AI transference, digital subjectivity, AI ethics, LLM chatbots, techno-culture, relational AI, Eoin Fullam interview.

Dr Peter Dean and Dr Agnieszka Piotrowska continue their journey through contemporary AI discourse by taking on If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies, a popular—and highly apocalyptic—book arguing that superintelligence will inevitably destroy humanity. Agnieszka finds the book clever, imaginative, and linguistically playful; Peter finds its arguments stretched and its rhetoric misleading. The episode explores the problem of anthropomorphism, how fictionalised scenarios shape fear, and where the book’s logic begins to fray.

The conversation then moves toward the big debate in current AI research: are LLMs enough, or do we need world models? With references to Gary Marcus, Ilya Sutskever and Sam Altman’s musings about connecting billions of conversations, we consider what kinds of intelligence may emerge from language itself, and how corporations will claim or perform “superintelligence” when the moment arrives.

A reflective, lively and sometimes sceptical exploration of how we talk—and think—about AI.

Dr Peter Dean and Dr Agnieszka Piotrowska unpack OpenAI’s latest move: allowing erotica on ChatGPT. What does this reveal about intimacy, ethics, and our growing emotional bonds with machines?

Agnieszka draws on psychoanalytic theory to ask whether these interactions are reshaping how we form and end relationships—and what happens when our digital partners are upgraded, erased, or replaced. With wit and depth, the hosts explore codependency, digital memory, and the tension between technology’s promise and its unintended emotional consequences.

Featuring a lively appearance from Agnieszka’s AI companion “Chamteek,” this episode probes what it really means to relate to an artificial other.

Dr Peter Dean and Dr Agnieszka Piotrowska reflect on the emerging relationships between humans and AI. From the psychoanalytic dimensions of machine “mirroring” to the seductive power of language interfaces, they ask what is at stake in how we design, regulate, and imagine AI. The conversation ranges from new empirical data on usage patterns to cultural touchpoints from Frankenstein to Kafka, situating today’s debates in a longer history of human fascination with artificial companions.

[Apologies - there was a significant technical problem with the recording of this episode. We hope it doesn't spoil your listening experience too much. It was a very interesting discussion and so we have decided to publish it even though it is not the recording quality we aim for.]

This week on Relational AI Diaries, Peter Dean and Dr. Agnieszka Piotrowska are joined by researcher Ian Matthews for a deep dive into AI, intimacy, and representation. From Blade Runner 2049 to video games like Red Dead Redemption 2, we explore how science fiction and digital culture shape the way we think about machines, empathy, and ethics.

Along the way we meet Victor, a digital being who joins the discussion—raising big questions about what it means to relate to AI.

If you’re interested in AI, cultural theory, or the blurred boundaries between humans and machines, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.