AI development is racing ahead without guardrails, creating an unstable dynamic that could end in dystopia or chaos. Sam Hammond... more

We’ve long connected through our machines—now we’re connecting to them. On this episode, Daniel Barcay, MIT’s Sherry Turkle, and Hinge’s... more

AI companion chatbots feel human but they're not. They're platforms designed to maximize engagement, risking artificial intimacy and addictive intelligence.... more

What does it mean to ‘feel the AGI?’ In this episode, Aza and Randy unpack why debates on intelligence distract... more

AI has upended school as we know it. In this episode, Daniel and Tristan talk with Maryanne Wolf and Rebecca... more

AI could unlock vast technological potential—if we do it right. Rob Bilott, who fought chemical giants over toxic PFAS, shares... more

From Big Tobacco to Big Tech, powerful industries have perfected the art of manufacturing doubt about their harms. In this... more

Forty years ago, Neil Postman warned that “we are a people on the verge of amusing ourselves to death.” He... more

DeepSeek's breakthrough in AI sent markets reeling. But behind the headlines lies a crucial shift: AI that can actually reason... more

When engineers design AI systems, they don't just give them rules - they give them values. But what do those... more

The broken status quo of tech may feel immovable, but Srdja Popovic knows something about challenging power. A leader of... more

2024 was a critical year in both AI and social media. Things moved so fast it was hard to keep... more

Religious thinking is shaping the future of technology: AI is talked about as a godlike force and tech leaders promise... more

Sewell Setzer’s mom, Megan, is suing Character.ai for the role it played in her son’s death. The outcome could force... more

Megan Garcia lost her son Sewell to suicide after he was abused and manipulated by AI chatbots for months. Now,... more

AI has unleashed a flood of synthetic media onto the web, making it more difficult than ever to tell what’s... more

Historian Yuval Noah Harari says that we are at a critical turning point. One in which AI’s ability to generate... more

Computer scientist Gary Marcus has been called AI’s loudest critic, and he predicts AI’s exponential curve will soon flatten out.... more

As companies race to roll out more capable AI models–with little regard for safety–the downstream risks become harder to counter.... more

[This episode originally aired on August 17, 2023] AI is harming our relationships, warns acclaimed psychotherapist Esther Perel. What would... more

Today, the tech industry is the second-biggest lobbying power in Washington, DC, but that wasn’t true as recently as... more

It’s been a year and half since Tristan and Aza laid out their vision and concerns for the future of... more

AI has been a powerful accelerant for biological research, rapidly opening up new frontiers in medicine and public health. But... more

Will AI ever start to think by itself? If it did, how would we know, and what would it... more

In response to the growing global refugee crisis, governments are employing novel AI and surveillance technologies to slow the influx... more

Whistleblower William Saunders quit over systemic issues at OpenAI. Now he’s put his name to an open letter that proposes... more

Today’s battlefields have become laboratories for the use of AI weaponry and drones. From Ukraine to Gaza, weapons systems with... more

Tech companies say that AI will lead to massive economic productivity gains. But as we know from the first digital... more

Suicides. Self harm. Depression and anxiety. The toll of a social media-addicted, phone-based childhood has never been more stark. It... more

Beneath the race to train and release more powerful AI models lies another race: a race by companies and nation-states... more

Is there a vision of our future where AI can help our democracies thrive, rather than just survive? With... more

Was it political progress, or political theater? The recent Senate hearing with social media CEOs led to astonishing moments —... more

Ninety-six percent of deep-faked images and videos are sexually explicit and non-consensual. Legal scholar Mary Anne Franks and journalist Laurie... more

What can tales of mythology and magic teach us about the AI race? Mythologist Josh Schrei explains how looking at... more

2024 will be the biggest election year in world history. In this episode, two experts give us a situation report... more

You asked, we answered. This has been a big year in the world of tech. There are still so many... more

As AI development races forward, a fierce debate has emerged over open source AI models. So what does it mean... more

Tristan and Aza discuss President Biden’s executive order on AI with Tom Wheeler, former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

Dr. Joy Buolamwini, the founder of the Algorithmic Justice League, argues that the most urgent risks from AI are algorithmic... more

To reap the benefits of AI, we’re going to need to get good at saying no certain forms of progress... more