How our relationships are changing in the age of "artificial intimacy"

Published August 2, 2024 at 9:34 AM EDT

Early adopters are flocking to AI bots for therapy, friendship, even love. How will these relationships impact us? MIT sociologist Sherry Turkle delves into her new research on "artificial intimacy." Later in the episode, host Manoush Zomorodi speaks with Somnium Space founder Artur Sychov.

Note: A few weeks ago, we talked to Sherry Turkle in a Body Electric episode called "If a bot relationship FEELS real, should we care that it's not?" Today's episode is an even deeper dive into that conversation with Sherry. We hope you enjoy it!
This episode of TED Radio Hour was produced by Katie Monteleone and Matthew Cloutier. It was edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour and Manoush Zomorodi.

Our production staff also includes James Delahoussaye, Rachel Faulkner White, Harsha Nahata and Chloee Weiner. Irene Noguchi is our executive producer. Our audio engineers were Simon-Laslo Janssen, Stacey Abbott and Ted Mebane.