About this episode
Over the last few decades, our relationships have become increasingly mediated by technology. Texting has become our dominant form of communication. Social media has replaced gathering places. Dating starts with a swipe on an app, not a tap on the shoulder.
And now, AI enters the mix. If the technology of the 2010s was about capturing our attention, AI meets us at a much deeper relational level. It can play the role of therapist, confidant, friend, or lover with remarkable fidelity. Already, therapy and companionship has become the most common AI use case. We're rapidly entering a world where we're not just communicating through our machines, but to them.
How will that change us? And what rules should we set down now to avoid the mistakes of the past?
These were some of the questions that Daniel Barcay explored with MIT sociologist Sherry Turkle and Hinge CEO Justin McLeod at Esther Perel’s Sessions 2025, a conference for clinical therapists. This week, we’re bringing you an edited version of that conversation, originally recorded on April 25th, 2025.
Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on X: @HumaneTech_. You can find complete transcripts, key takeaways, and much more on our Substack.
RECOMMENDED MEDIA
Key & Peele - Text Message Confusion
Further reading on Hinge’s rollout of AI features
“The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt
“Bowling Alone” by Robert Putnam
The NYT profile on the woman in love with ChatGPT
Further reading on the Sewell Setzer story
Further reading on the ELIZA chatbot
RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES
Echo Chambers of One: Companion AI and the Future of Human Connection
What Can We Do About Abusive Chatbots? With Meetali Jain and Camille Carlton
Esther Perel on Artificial Intimacy
Jonathan Haidt On How to Solve the Teen Mental Health Crisis
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Get every episode summarized
Each time Your Undivided Attention publishes, we email you a written briefing from the transcript — the topics, who appeared, and any specific claims, with the ad reads skipped.
Email me new episodesFree for 3 shows. No card needed.
Hosts & guests
No transcript yet
This episode has not been transcribed. Request it and it moves to the front of the queue.
More episodes
More from Your Undivided Attention
Flock is Just the Beginning: Inside the Era of AI-Powered Policing
Your Undivided Attention
We Measure What AI Can Do. We Should Measure What It Does to Us.
Your Undivided Attention
Enough Debate about the AI Jobpocalypse. We Need To Plan for the Messy Middle.
Your Undivided Attention
Can AI Be Built in Service of Life? A Conversation with Krista Tippett
Your Undivided Attention