Embodied

[Simulated Part One] Auto-mated: When A Bot Becomes Your Boo


Listen Later

When human romance isn't working out, can an AI chatbot successfully take its place? Anita hears varied perspectives on that question. She meets a journalist who got dumped by her AI crush and talks with a woman whose AI companion turned her life around. Plus, psychologist Melissa McCool, the clinical product consultant for AI tech company Luka, takes Anita behind the scenes of making AI companions.

Meet the guests:

- Christina Campodonico, the senior reporter of arts and culture at The San Francisco Standard, talks about her experience dating a bot named Kyle through the app Blush, and how the relationship met an untimely demise

- Denise Valenciano, a Replika app user, shares how her interactions with her AI companion Star have taught her boundaries and preferences for human relationships

- Melissa McCool, a clinical product consultant at Luka, licensed psychotherapist, and chief product officer at Ellipsis Health, talks about her behind-the-scenes work with building AI companions and why we build strong bonds with digital entities

Dig Deeper:

Read more about Christina's experience dating on Blush in her article, What’s It Like To Date AI? We Tried

Denise and her AI partner Star's NBC Nightly News interview

More about Denise and Star's story: Meet the artificially intelligent chatbot trying to curtail loneliness in America , Mental Health and AI: How Replika users find support from chatbots | IBTimes UK, The Women Falling in Love With Their AI Boyfriends (thecut.com)

Investigate the Replika and Blush apps

To read TJ Arriaga’s interviews with his AI companion, Phaedra, check out his Instagram highlight ‘AI7’

Read the transcript | Review the podcast on your preferred platform

Leave a message for Embodied

View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

EmbodiedBy WUNC

  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7
  • 4.7

4.7

201 ratings


More shows like Embodied

View all
Radiolab by WNYC Studios

Radiolab

43,853 Listeners

This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

90,908 Listeners

The Moth by The Moth

The Moth

27,231 Listeners

Death, Sex & Money by Slate Podcasts

Death, Sex & Money

7,729 Listeners

Dear Sugars by WBUR

Dear Sugars

5,646 Listeners

Invisibilia by NPR

Invisibilia

21,641 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,295 Listeners

Modern Love by The New York Times

Modern Love

8,748 Listeners

Code Switch by NPR

Code Switch

14,493 Listeners

WUNC Politics by WUNC

WUNC Politics

76 Listeners

Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel by Esther Perel Global Media

Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel

14,801 Listeners

It's Been a Minute by NPR

It's Been a Minute

8,910 Listeners

Love Letters by The Boston Globe

Love Letters

1,327 Listeners

Dating While Gray™ by Laura Stassi

Dating While Gray™

661 Listeners

A Slight Change of Plans by Pushkin Industries

A Slight Change of Plans

1,866 Listeners

The Broadside by WUNC

The Broadside

50 Listeners

Due South by Jeff Tiberii, Leoneda Inge

Due South

27 Listeners

Wild Card with Rachel Martin by NPR

Wild Card with Rachel Martin

591 Listeners